By John Whitesides and Donna Smith
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's push for sweeping healthcare reform was poised to clear a key Senate hurdle on Tuesday with the backing of influential Republican Olympia Snowe.
Snowe delivered a huge boost to the overhaul drive with an announcement she will back the plan in the Senate Finance Committee, although she said could switch her position as the legislation moves through Congress.
"There are many, many miles to go in this legislative journey," she said as the Democratic-controlled panel began considering the measure to cut healthcare costs, regulate insurers and expand coverage.
"Pretty much everything has been said and now it's time to get the job done," Democratic Chairman Max Baucus told the committee. "Americans are looking for common-sense solutions."
Republicans condemned the plan as a costly and heavy-handed government intrusion into the private healthcare sector and said the measure would get even worse as it makes its way through Congress.
"We can now see clearly that the bill continues its march leftward," said Senator Charles Grassley, the senior Republican on the panel. "This bill is already moving on a slippery slope to more government control of healthcare."
Health insurer stocks extended their losses for the day after the news that Snowe would vote for the overhaul, Obama's top domestic priority. The S&P Managed Health Care index of large health insurers was down 2.3 percent in afternoon trading.
If approved as expected later on Tuesday, the bill would be merged with the Senate Health Committee's version over the next few weeks and moved to the full Senate, setting off an eventual floor battle with Republicans.
The final Senate version must then be melded with its counterpart in the House of Representatives before the healthcare legislation lands on Obama's desk.
Snowe's support could give Democrats a crucial swing vote as they try to hold the 60 Senate votes needed to overcome procedural roadblocks. Democrats control exactly 60 votes in the 100-member Senate.
BUDGET BACKING
Two weeks of panel debate left the key elements of Baucus' plan intact. Support was strengthened by last week's estimate from nonpartisan analysts that it would cost $829 billion (520.5 billion pounds) -- well below Obama's target of $900 billion -- and meet the president's goal of reducing the budget deficit.
The insurance industry launched an attack on the measure on Monday, releasing a report it commissioned that charged the bill would drive up costs and insurance premiums. The White House dismissed the report as "self-serving."
The Finance Committee bill requires all U.S. citizens and legal residents to have health insurance and provides subsidies on a sliding scale to help them buy it.
It would create state-based exchanges where individuals and small businesses shop for insurance and would bar insurers from refusing to cover people with pre-existing conditions or dropping those with serious illnesses.
The bill does not include a government-run "public" insurance option backed by Obama and liberal Democrats as a way to create competition for insurers. Republican critics say that approach would undermine the private insurance industry.
The other Senate bill, passed by the Health Committee, includes a public insurance option and supporters have vowed a floor fight over the issue in the Senate.
Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives have been trying to meld three versions of a healthcare bill. Last week they submitted a single bill to budget analysts for cost estimates that included three different versions of a public insurance option.
(Editing by Doina Chiacu)
