The plan does not call for a government-run insurance option, as advocated by President Obama and most Democrats, but would set up a system of nonprofit consumer-owned cooperatives to compete with private insurers -- a provision intended to appeal to Republicans who have railed against the "public option" in recent weeks.

Baucus (D-Mont.) released the plan aimed at overhauling America's $2.5 trillion health care system ahead of a vote scheduled in the Finance Committee for next week.

"The cost of America's broken health care system has stretched families, businesses and the economy too far for too long," he said in a statement. "For too many, quality, affordable health care is simply out of reach. This is a unique moment in history where we can finally reach an objective so many of us have sought for so long."

He said the "common-sense package" would work for patients, health-care providers and the economy and would not "add a dime to the deficit." He also pledged that it would rein in soaring health-care costs.

Republicans vowed to oppose what they view as a government "takeover" of the health-care system.

In a floor speech Wednesday before the Baucus plan was released, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) charged that at every turn, "Democrats in Washington are pushing another trillion-dollar bill or calling for more spending, more taxes, and more debt."

He said: "The American people want health care reform -- not with more government, but with less. They don't want a new government-run system; they want us to repair the system we've got."

Under the Baucus plan, new Web-based insurance exchanges would be established to allow consumers to shop for and compare insurance plans. The package would also expand Medicaid and place caps on patients' annual health-care costs. It would be paid for with $349 billion in new taxes and fees and $507 billion in cuts to government health programs.