As his Senate Finance Committee continues work on its own major health care reform proposal, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is commending the work of three of his former congressional colleagues on a bipartisan plan.

On June 17, formers Sens. Howard Baker (R-Tenn.), Tom Daschle (D-Iowa) and Bob Dole (R-Kan.), members of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Advisory Board, unveiled their own budget-neutral plan to ensure that every American has affordable, quality health care. Despite its content, the senators pointed out that bipartisan compromise – a key component of any upcoming legislation to reach President Barack Obama – can indeed be achieved.

The trio’s plan is centered on four “pillars” of health reform: achieving greater health care quality and value; making insurance available, meaningful and affordable; emphasizing and supporting personal responsibility and health choices; and developing a workable and sustainable approach to health care financing.

The plan’s details include mandated health insurance for every American while having insurers guarantee coverage regardless of health status, and limit out-of-pocket premiums to no more than 15% of income for a minimum benefit package.

To achieve its budget-neutral status for an estimated $1.2 trillion price tag, the plan recommends over $1 trillion in specified financing, divided between federal health system savings and health-related revenues.

The remaining $200 million could be paid for by health-savings policies and revenue enhancements proposed by Congress, including taxing health benefits. Other options under the plan are a “budget trigger” from Congress to measure targeted expenditures and automatically implement explicit policies that would achieve more savings if needed, or the creation of what the group calls a “Health Care Council,” to submit specified proposals to Congress and the White House.

The plan also promotes a network of state or regional health insurance exchanges, permitting all individuals and small groups to take advantage of coverage. That idea was included in Baucus’ initial universal health plan unveiled last year and is likely to be included in the Senate Finance Committee’s pending health reform proposal.

Max Baucus

Baucus said both the exchange and the idea of “shared responsibility by employers, individuals and the government” are “critical to comprehensive health reform.”

“And perhaps most importantly, the plan show us a bipartisan consensus is within reach as we move toward our end goal of ensuring affordable, accessible care for every American,” Baucus said in a statement.

Daschle, a former candidate for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said a number of compromises were made in developing the report among the three former senators.

“A number of proposals would have looked different if they had been crafted by only Democrats or only Republicans,” Daschle said in a statement. “But in the spirit of our bipartisan effort, my colleagues and I agreed to this compromise in the hopes that we can begin to bridge any rifts in the debate and move forward with achieving our common goal of reforming the health care system.”