Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus , D-Mont., unable to nail down a bipartisan bill to block a scheduled reduction in Medicare payments to physicians, has decided to proceed without GOP support.

Baucus said Wednesday that he will move forward after the Memorial Day recess with a Democrat-supported Medicare bill that Republicans almost certainly will block, possibly forcing an eventual compromise.

“It seems clear to me that we’re not going to get an agreement in time to meet the deadlines, so I’m going to move forward with a bill that I think has the right policies and priorities for the Medicare program, to include the doctor fix for 18 months,” Baucus said Wednesday, following a meeting with committee members from both sides.

Members of both parties want to halt a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare payment rates for doctors that is scheduled to take effect July 1. But they have been at loggerheads over how to offset the cost of an 18-month fix, which is estimated at $14 billion to $18 billion.

Some Democrats are not optimistic about the chances for getting their bill enacted by the deadline, but see a chance to take a philosophical stand, at least.

“It’s going to get vetoed anyways. But we still need to say what we stand for,” Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV , D-W.Va., said on Tuesday, following a meeting with committee Democrats. “Our guy’s going to be president, so we’ll be able to do more next year,” Rockefeller predicted.

Republicans insist a bill can be cleared this year.

“Before this process is over, I’m confident that we’re going to have a bipartisan package that passes the Senate,” said ranking Finance Republican Charles E. Grassley of Iowa. “There are differences, but there aren’t big differences,” he said.