Senate releases healthcare Bill that will affect coverage for millions of Americans

After weeks of secret negotiations, the US Senate has released an anticipated draft of a bill that could upend the healthcare system for millions of Americans.

The Senate's 142-page proposal unveiled Thursday would eliminate or reduce key benefits provided by the Affordable Care Act, strip funding from the women's reproductive health provider Planned Parenthood and dramatically cut and restructure Medicaid, America's public health insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans.

The legislation mirrors the House bill that narrowly passed last month, but with modest changes intended to win support from moderate Senators. Senate Republicans heard about the substance of the healthcare reform effort for the first time Thursday morning, just days before leadership intends to hold a vote. Experts believe the bill could leave millions of Americans without health insurance, and could have a stark impact on vulnerable populations such as recovering drug addicts, aging middle-class baby boomers and women and children. That impact is likely to prompt questions about how senators can sell voters on a bill that left the House with a 17% public approval rating, and the expectation that 23 million Americans will lose health insurance.

Senators want to give the middle-class tax credits to buy insurance, but the tax credits would still be worth less than those currently provided by the Affordable Care Act,

better known as Obamacare. People would also need to earn less money to quality for them.