By Noam N. Levey , Tribune Newspapers|October 08, 2009
Senate Democrats pushing health care legislation received a boost Wednesday from congressional budget experts, who estimated that a bill being debated by the Senate Finance Committee would substantially expand coverage and lower the federal deficit.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office calculated that the legislation, written by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), would cost $829 billion by 2019. But because that tab would be offset by spending cuts elsewhere and by new revenue, the panel's health care bill actually would lower the deficit by $81 billion over the next decade - and potentially even more in later years - the budget office concluded.
At the same time, the bill would expand the percentage of Americans with health insurance from 83% to 94%, according to the estimate.
The preliminary CBO report sets the stage for the finance panel to vote on Baucus' health care blueprint later this week or next, a key step in the Democratic campaign to send President Barack Obama a health care overhaul bill by the end of the year.
Once the Finance Committee votes, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will combine the panel's legislation with a slightly different bill developed by the Senate health committee.
Reid, who hopes to bring the combined legislation to the Senate floor this month, is laboring to craft a bill that can win the support of both liberal and conservative Democrats in order to avert an expected Republican filibuster.
On Wednesday, Reid called the CBO report "another important step down the road toward enacting comprehensive health insurance reform." But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) criticized Reid's process, contending that the "real bill will be written by Democrat leaders in a closed-to-the-public conference room." House Democrats also are working to build a consensus before bringing their version of a health care overhaul to the full chamber for a vote. They met behind closed doors Wednesday to talk about ways to structure a new government-run insurance program. The group is slated today to discuss how to pay for the package.
In a speech to Congress last month, Obama set a cost goal of $900 billion over the next decade. But controlling spending - and ensuring that a health care overhaul does not add to the national debt - has remained one of the most formidable challenges confronting Democrats.
