There’s no time to wait for president-elect of the United States Barack Obama to shift reforming the nation’s current health care system into overdrive. Or at least that’s what Senator Max Baucus seems to think, since the chairman of the Finance Committee has decided to put forward his own health-care plan on Wednesday.

The latter, in many respects similar to Obama’s one, sets as a major goal making health insurance affordable to, if possible, every American. Consequently, the Democrat of Montana has stated that he would eventually require everybody to purchase insurance, adding that federal subsidies would be provided for people whose incomes fell short of the possibility to buy coverage.

Even though Baucus’ plan is highly compatible with the president-elect’s one, with regards to the aforementioned issue, the Senator has gone the extra mile by aiming to make it mandatory for all Americans to buy health insurance, since Obama has limited his plan to only requiring children to get health-care coverage.

Moreover, the 35,000-word document the chairman of the Finance Committee has released reads that a nationwide exchange office would be set up, from where people could get their insurance policies, choosing between private ones and coverage offered via a similar to Medicare program.

Just as Barack Obama himself has proposed, Baucus said that all insurance companies would be legally prevented from charging extra the people who have pre-existing medical conditions. Furthermore, his plans entails expanding the Medicare program by rendering all Americans aged 55 and older eligible for Medicare premiums, which translates as lowering the current age limit by 10 years.

In addition, Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) would be made available to all persons whose incomes fall below the poverty level and to all young children coming from such low-income families, respectively.