Baucus: 'Every Democrat' will support Senate health bill

"Every Democrat" in the Senate will end up supporting healthcare reform legislation, one of the lead negotiators on crafting a final bill said Thursday.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, asserted that all 60 Democrats in the Senate would support the health bill to be merged together from his committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

Baucus alluded to Sen. Olympia Snowe's (R-Maine) support for his committee's health bill, and said "a couple" more GOP lawmakers may back a final Senate health bill, citing the historic opportunity on healthcare reform.

"And that is why we are going to pass health care reform legislation this year, and it is why every Democrat will vote for it, and it is why there will be at least one Republican and maybe a couple more who also will vote for it," he said during a press availability this afternoon on the progress toward that bill.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who is in charge of merging the HELP and Finance bills, said that he has spoken to Republican lawmakers throughout the negotiations, and hopes for more GOP support for his bill beyond Snowe.

"We are hopeful and confident that some Republicans are going to join with us, more than Olympia Snowe," he said. "We're not writing off the Republicans."