WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A proposed health-care compromise by the powerful chairman of the Senate Finance Committee lacks a government-run insurance option favored by Democrats and would tax the most expensive health insurance plans , a source close to the discussions told CNN Monday . Sen. Max Baucus , D-Montana , is the powerful chairman of the Senate Finance Committee . As expected , the proposal from Sen. Max Baucus , D-Montana , excludes the public insurance option to compete with private insurers . However , it would allow for the creation of nonprofit health care cooperatives -- an idea that some moderate Democrats and Republicans have expressed possible interest in supporting . The potential compromise proposal was sent to key Finance Committee negotiators Saturday night . It is considered a last-ditch effort to secure Republican votes for a health-care bill as President Obama pushes the issue with a planned speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night . So far , none of the three Republican senators involved in talks with Baucus on the compromise have indicated whether they support the version he is proposing . Congressional liberals are pushing strongly for inclusion of a public option ; conservatives are sharply opposed . Obama has said he supports a public option but has not clearly indicated he will veto a bill that fails to include it . On Monday , Obama reiterated his support for a public option in a Labor Day speech to a union gathering in Cincinnati . He outlined Democratic health-care proposals that include a public option as part of a menu of insurance choices , including private health-care plans , that the legislation would create . `` I continue to believe that a public option within that basket of insurance choices would help improve quality and bring down costs , '' Obama said to loud cheers . The president also indicated he would push hard for the House and Senate to move forward on passing health-care legislation in his upcoming address to Congress . `` The Congress and the country have been engaged in a vigorous debate for many months , '' Obama said . `` And the debate has been good , and that 's important because we have to get this right . `` But every debate at some point comes to an end , '' he continued , to growing applause . `` At some point , it 's time to decide . At some point , it 's time to act . And Ohio , it 's time to act to get this done . '' Baucus ' bill would cost less than $ 900 billion over 10 years , according to the source who spoke to CNN . The price tag is at least $ 100 billion less than any other health-care reform bill under consideration by Congress , the source said . As with other reform proposals , the bill would bar insurance companies from dropping a policyholder in the event of illness as long as that person has paid his or her premium in full . It adds new protections for people with pre-existing conditions and establishes tax credits to help low and middle-income families purchase insurance coverage , the source noted . It creates health insurance exchanges to make it easier for small groups and individuals to buy insurance . The bill would be paid for , in part , by a new tax on health insurance companies that provide high-end `` Cadillac '' insurance plans , the source added . Supporters of such a tax -- initially proposed by Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and other Democrats several weeks ago -- say will it help curb the cost of health care by discouraging employers from offering such plans . They also argue that consumers , in turn , will be discouraged from overusing the health care system . Watch senators discuss health care talks '' Critics claim the new tax will cause insurance companies to raise rates on all of their customers , even those without more expensive plans . The so-called `` Gang of Six '' Senate negotiators -- a group of three Democrats and three Republicans on the Finance Committee -- is scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss the proposal . The source , while stressing that the proposed bill is not a final product , said it closely reflects the group 's work and areas of agreement . Obama 's planned speech to Congress reflects how overhauling the nation 's ailing health-care system has become his top domestic priority . He laced his speech Monday with references to health care costs rising at three times the rate of wages , and insurance industry practices that deny coverage for pre-existing conditions or prevent people from obtaining coverage if they lose their jobs . Multiple sources told CNN Friday that the administration is preparing for the possibility of delivering its own legislation to Capitol Hill sometime after the president 's address . One source called the possibility of new legislation a `` contingency '' approach if efforts by Baucus to craft a deal fall through . A big open question is whether two Republican members of the Gang of Six -- Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming -- will support the bipartisan proposal . White House and Democratic leadership sources have said for some time they do not think Grassley and Enzi will sign on . A source close to the White House said Friday that the administration is leaning toward dropping the public option , and continues to zero in on trying to convince moderate Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe , another of the Senate Finance Committee negotiators , to come on board . Snowe and the White House have been discussing a trigger provision that would mandate creation of a public health insurance option if specific thresholds for expanded coverage and other changes are not met . Support by Snowe would improve the chances of the Senate 's Democratic majority to compile the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Republican filibuster against a health care bill . The Senate Finance Committee is the last of five congressional committees needed to approve health-care legislation before it can be taken up by the full Senate and House of Representatives . Different forms of the legislation proposed by Democrats have already cleared three House committees , as well as the Senate Health , Education , Labor and Pensions Committee . CNN 's Ted Barrett and Dana Bash contributed to this report .