WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Senate will begin voting on amendments to a sweeping health-care reform bill on Thursday, Majority Leader Harry Reid said, taking up proposals related to Medicare and women's health on the fourth day of debate on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

Voting will get underway after Democrats and Republicans have hotly accused each other of delay on the bill, which seeks to extend insurance coverage to 94% of Americans and bar insurers from denying coverage to the sick, among many other things.

"Even for the United States Senate, this is a slow pace," said Sen. Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, on Thursday morning. Debate on the bill began Monday.

Four measures are on deck. The first two deal with women's health: Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., is seeking to provide coverage for mammograms and other preventive measures at little or even no cost to patients. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, has offered an alternative to Mikulski's amendment that she says would ensure patients get doctor recommendations about preventive health services "without interference from government-appointed advisers get a free credit report."

Senators will also vote on a proposal by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would send the bill back to the Senate Finance Committee for a re-write, and strip out proposed cuts to the Medicare program. If it passes, McCain's proposal would have the effect of killing the bill, since its financing relies partly on slowing Medicare's rate of growth and cuts to the Medicare Advantage program, a federal government-subsidized program which allows seniors to choose health plans run by insurance companies.

Democrats say basic Medicare benefits will be preserved under the bill and are offering an amendment to make that explicit.

Republicans argue that the Democrats' bill imperils the program.

"The fact is, cuts to Medicare Advantage are cuts to Medicare," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday.

All amendments need 60 votes to pass.

Democrats are aiming to pass the health bill before Christmas, and Reid has warned that senators will need to put in hours on the weekends for debate.

Senate to begin health-care votes Thursday