A group of 35 economists, including three Nobel laureates, asked a U.S. judge for permission to file a brief backing the Obama administration’s bid to end a lawsuit challenging its healthcare overhaul, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. On the other hand…

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus told reporters Monday afternoon that he isn’t sure the Senate can muster the votes needed to pass health care reform that contains a “pure public option.”The major overall goal here is to get health care reform that passes the Senate,” Baucus said. “I just don’t know if there are 60 votes for the more pure kinds of public option.”

An industry-funded study forecasts the Baucus Bill, expected to be approved by the Senate Finance Committee today, will add $4,000 to family premiums and $1,500 to individual within 10 years.

The Senate Finance Committee, which continues to debate health care reform legislation, rejected Tuesday two amendments that would have added a government-run health insurance plan to the bill.

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday began its work on a revised version of the health care reform bill proposed last week by its chairman. Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, said in a statement that he modified his proposal to incorporate ideas from both Democrats and Republicans, to make it more affordable for low- and middle-income Americans and to ensure it reduces the federal deficit.

It’s finally here — the Senate Finance Committee’s plan (pdf) to reform the U.S. health care system. All summer, Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the committee and a Montana Democrat, and his “Gang of Six” committee negotiators worked on what was built up as the nation’s best attempt at bipartisan health reform. The attempt at bipartisanship apparently has failed.

President Barack Obama told ABC News that the speech he is scheduled to deliver tonight will offer “a lot of clarity” about his vision for health-care reform. While noting that “we do intend to get something done this year,” Obama said that his administration is “open to new ideas.” The president is expected to address a joint session of Congress at 8 p.m.

As President Obama prepared Monday for his speech to Congress on health care reform, some details leaked out about fees and coverage limits under a proposal being floated by the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. The proposal from Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, would impose new fees on some sectors of the health care industry — but none on individuals — to offset initial costs estimated at $880 billion over 10 years.

Senate health care negotiators said late Thursday that they would ignore the increasingly strident rhetoric from both Republican and Democratic corners as they craft legislation to satisfy both sides — and cost less than legislation already proposed.

Home during summer break from Congress, Sen. Max Baucus has been meeting with constituents around Montana, an unlikely epicenter for the nation’s divisive and disruptive talk about overhauling the nation’s health care system. Despite some dispiriting days for the cause of bipartisan health care reform, Baucus still believes that reform is “inevitable” this year.