The Congressional Budget Office is reportedly finished analyzing the healthcare reform package put together by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and the score has ended up being very good news for him: Democratic staffers are telling reporters the CBO estimates the bill will cost $849 billion over 10 years, but would reduce the deficit by $127 billion over the same time period.
The CBO also says that Reid's legislation would slash the deficit by another $650 billion or so over the following 10 year period; that part of the analysis, though, is subject to numerous caveats, as predicting anything about federal spending that far out is difficult, at best.
Word from Senate Democratic aides is also that the CBO estimates an additional 31 million Americans would get health insurance under Reid's bill, meaning that 94 percent would have coverage.
An official unveiling of the legislation is expected at a press event Thursday, after Reid presents it to his caucus Wednesday evening.
Shares