FROM D.C. CORRESPONDENT LES BLUMENTHAL:

WASHINGTON – Calling it a “good start” but adding she thinks Congress needs to be even more aggressive, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., supported a sweeping health care reform bill approved today by the Senate Finance Committee.

Cantwell was one of 13 Democrats and a lone Republican – Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe – who supported the $829 billion measure. Democratic leadership will now try to combine the Finance Committee bill with one passed earlier by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and bring legislation to the floor in the coming weeks.

“Doing nothing was not an option,” Cantwell said as the Finance Committee debated the bill. “The big secret is premiums will continue to increase 7 percent to 8 percent unless we act. We need to decide whether we will let insurance companies continue to have their way or whether we will do something.”

Cantwell said the Finance bill would be good for Washington because it changes the Medicare reimbursement formula for doctors and hospitals which has shortchanged the state because it has had a more cost-effective, efficient health care system than most other states.

The bill also includes a Cantwell amendment that would allow other states to create basic health plans like Washington’s and use federal money to pay for them. The states would be allowed to negotiate coverage policies with insurance companies for low income consumers, up to a family of four making $44,000 a year. President Obama called Cantwell shortly after the amendment was adopted to thank her for being “so constructive,” Cantwell said.

In an interview, Cantwell said more works need to be done, including the adoption of a government-run insurance plan known as the public option.

“This is a start, but we need to do more,” Cantwell said.