WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats pushing healthcare 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 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' healthcare blueprint later this week or next -- a key step in the Democratic campaign to send President Obama a healthcare 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 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, charging 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 they bring their version of a healthcare 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 healthcare overhaul does not add to the national debt have remained among the most formidable challenges confronting Democrats.
