Key health care vote set for next Tuesday

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, who sits on the committee, said Wednesday night she must "thoroughly review and evaluate this analysis before deciding how to proceed."

The measure was initially drafted by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, after months of negotiations with five other panel members -- three Republicans and two Democrats. It represents the only proposal so far with the potential to attract any Republican support.

Over the past two weeks, the Finance Committee has considered several hundred amendments to the sweeping bill. Committee members boosted the bill's overall price tag in part by voting to exempt senior citizens from higher taxes on medical expenses.

Before the amendments, the Budget Office projected that the committee's version of the bill would cost $774 billion; Baucus estimated that it would cost $856 billion.

None of the Republicans in what was dubbed the "Gang of Six," however, has backed the proposal so far.