On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a long-awaited vote on Sen. Max Baucus’ America’s Healthy Future Act. What is most surprising may not be that this bill is finally getting a vote after months of negotiations and holdups, but that it may be the bill that finally makes its way out of Congress and on to the President’s desk all by the end of this year.

Sen. Baucus Meets with Treasury Secretary Geithner

Don’t get me wrong, the Baucus bill has its critics (including yours truly). However, the fact that the bill came out of a series of bipartisan negotiations that angered those on the left and the right has to say something about the overall substance of the bill.

The Baucus bill aims to expand coverage to more Americans via Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (co-ops) and an individual mandate with available tax credits and subsidies. When it comes down to sheer numbers, it would lower the amount of uninsured Americans to 29 million (form a staggering 47 million last year) by the end of the next decade.

In terms of coverage, the Baucus bill makes great strides. In terms of the President’s outline for reform, it meets all mandatory points.

The Baucus bill would put into place a new set of consumer protections that would prohibit insurance companies from denying patients coverage due to pre-existing conditions and also would prohibit them from dropping patients when they get sick. It also focuses on requirements for preventative care and capping certain out-of-pocket expenses.

The down side to the Baucus bill is that it abandons the idea of a public option, and instead favors a co-op health plan. Co-ops would be fine if we could trust insurance companies to price their premiums at market value, but there is no mechanism in the bill to keep their feet to the fire other than a government commission that will likely be given little power. We need to look no further than Blue Cross Blue Shield to see a co-op gone bad, and that is what scares me about this bill.

So far, so good for the Baucus bill. It gets fairly decent marks from me. Additionally, it gets fairly decent marks from a number of former GOP leaders like Bob Dole, Bill Frist, and Chuck Hagel, and the bill doesn’t even cover Bob’s Viagra. But here comes the biggest selling point. The Baucus bill is estimated to reduce the federal deficit by $81 billion over the next decade.

That’s right. I said reduce. And I also said that number is $81 billion (with a “B”).

The key to any voter’s heart lies deep in their pocketbook. This plan will pass through Congress not only because it will make America physically healthier, but because it brings down cost, too.

I said earlier that I am not the biggest fan of this plan. It’s true. I prefer a public option. However, it is clear that such a plan has some Democrats in tough election cycles scratching their heads and has every Republican screaming on Fox News. The Baucus bill meets almost all goals set forth for health care reform and will insure 94 percent of Americans. Those numbers are better than today’s, and I’m happy to support a bill that can pass and improves that number as opposed to one that will fail and leave us back where we started. This debate truly is about America’s Healthy Future, and if we can improve that outlook I’m on boar