According to the health-care draft circulated among members of the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, the coverage provisions included in the so-called overhauling of the country's health-care system constitute - purchase of health insurance by most people; expansion of Medicaid coverage; and creation of consumer- owned cooperative plans rather than government coverage.

The range of coverage provisions aim at a drastic downsizing of previous versions of the document, implying that lawmakers have sought to shrink the overall cost of the bill. Towards that end, the proposal looks at a reduction in the group of middle-class beneficiaries entitled for a new tax credit intended to improve the affordability aspect of insurance.

Though the health-care sketch-out circulated by Senate Finance Committee's Chairman Senator Max Baucus indicates no direct government competition against private insurers, the proposal - in spite of the cost-cutting measures - still retains the basic fundamentals of President Barack Obama's call for expanded health insurance, while reaching out for bipartisan support.

The most noteworthy aspect missing in the draft is the absence of a "public option" - sought by Obama and many Democrats - for a more affordable and universal coverage. Instead of that option, the health-care draft has outlined a co-operative approach - which has been modeled on the lines of rural electricity and telecom providers - conditional on government oversight and funded with federal seed money.