A key senate panel has approved a health care reform bill that would boost President Obama's goal of expanding coverage.

     But would this 829 billion dollar plan really lower your medical costs and improve your care?

        Passing the health care bill out of the Senate Finance Committee is the last step before the bill heads to debate in the full Senate.

        The Committee's version:

      -Requires everyone to have coverage

      -Helps poor citizens pay for coverage

      -Caps out of pocket expenses

      -Requires insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions.

      Doctor Len Ditmanson has been head of Pima County and Arizona's Medical Societies.  He worries health reform may make it harder to stay with your favorite doctor, and there won't be enough primary care doctors.

        "If you add millions of people to a health care system that is already sort of maxed out in terms of what some providers can do it will lead to some rationing."

        One question for us as health insurance consumers is, if you have mandatory insurance so that everyone has to have coverage do you add enough people to the system and enough money to the system so you spread out the cost and spread out the risk in a way that makes everyone's premium go down?

       Independent insurance agent Ray Magnuson says premiums will go up because many young healthy people won't buy insurance.  There's only a $750 dollar fine for skipping coverage so he thinks they'll decide risking a fine is cheaper than paying a premium.

        "Because now you get even more of the cost shifting because those that buy insurance are gonna have to pay higher premiums to help pay for those that do have the pre-existing conditions, have the high utililization and at some point down the road when the healthy ones do then join the plan because they are now sick the costs are gonna be much much higher."

        Arizona Senator Jon Kyl is on the Finance Committee. He was a no vote along with all the Republican Senators except Olympia Snowe of Maine.

       Senator Kyl raised many concerns, including a fear that the bill will raise premiums and reduce patient choice.

        Among House members for Southern Arizona, Congressman Raul Grijalva applauded the committee for completing its work on the bill but criticized the lack of a government run public option plan to compete with private insurers and hold down costs.

          We've asked for comment from Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and have not heard back from her office.