Soaring costs raise stakes for healthcare revamp

By Donna Smith

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Forecasts of dramatic jumps in U.S. medical costs are pushing lawmakers to reach a deal on a major healthcare revamp that seeks to extend coverage to all Americans, a leading U.S. senator said on Thursday.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat with a lead role in crafting the proposed overhaul, said he saw a 75 percent to 80 percent likelihood that legislation will pass the U.S. Senate with broad support from Democrats and Republicans.

"I think at the end of the day, every Democrat and a good number of Republicans will agree," Baucus said.

Congress has struggled for decades to expand medical coverage to uninsured Americans and President Barack Obama has made healthcare reform an immediate priority.

Baucus said lawmakers were now motivated by "sobering" projections of rising health costs and millions more uninsured Americans, now estimated at about 46 million, if they fail.

Baucus spoke as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, an independent healthcare research group, released a study that said the number of uninsured Americans could soar to more than 65 million in 10 years as healthcare costs more than double.

"In the worst case scenario, the number of uninsured Americans would increase to 57.7 million in 2014 and to 65.7 million in 2019," the report concluded, adding that without major changes the number would grow to at least 57 million in the next 10 years.

Mostly middle-income and even some high-income families would join the ranks of the uninsured, the study concluded. Rising health costs also will hurt employers who provide health insurance to their workers, it said.