Leaders in the House of Representatives have released their comprehensive plan for reforming health care today. The bill is a culmination of the work all three House committees have been doing to draft health reform legislation. It's a complete, thorough bill that will take some time to comb through and examine all the details. But, the preliminary analyses conclude that it's a huge step toward fixing health care and a major victory for all of us who have been working for quality, affordable health care:

In a statement, Obama praised the proposal, saying it "will begin the process of fixing what's broken about our health care system, reducing costs for all, building on what works and covering an estimated 97 percent of all Americans. And by emphasizing prevention and wellness, it will also help improve the quality of health care for every American."

Key elements of the legislation include federal subsidies for poorer individuals and families to help them afford coverage.

Financing would come from a federal surtax on the upper income - up to 5.4 percent on the income of taxpayers making more than $1 million a year -- as well as hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts in projected Medicare and Medicaid spending.

The new income tax on the wealthy is estimated to raise more than $500 billion over the next decade, and reductions in Medicaid and Medicare would account for nearly as much. [From the AP]

The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn has done an initial analysis of the bill. Here are the major points of the bill per his first read:

· Generous subsides, available to people making up to 400 percent of the poverty line

· Expansion of Medicaid to cover people making less than 133 percent of the poverty line

· Guarantees of solid benefits for everybody, with limits on out-of-pocket spending

· Strong regulation of insurers, including requirements that insurers provide insurance to people with pre-existing conditions without higher rates

· An individual mandate, so that everybody (or what passes for everybody in these discussions) gets into the system and assumes some financial responsibility

· A public plan, one that appears to be strong, although I'll reserve judgment on that until I hear from the experts

· Choice of public and private plan, at first just for individuals and small businesses, but later for larger businesses and--possibly--eventually for everybody

· Efforts at payment reform, if not necessarily as strong as they could be

· Investment in primary care and prevention

We'll have more details in the next 48 hours, but it's already safe to say we're taking part in history right now. We're within arm's reach of quality, affordable health care for every American.