Politico: New CBO score boosts (Baucus) Senate bill - cost could go as low as $750 billion

[jefferson_dem]

New CBO score boosts Senate bill

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the latest version of a bipartisan Senate Finance Committee bill would cost under $900 billion, giving the negotiators a boost as they try to complete a health care package this week.

The CBO returned the estimate last night on the bill, which would cover 95 percent of Americans by 2015 and would be fully paid for in the first 10 years, Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said.

“The report is encouraging,” Baucus said. “The bill would actually reduce the federal deficit in the 10th year by several billion dollars. In addition, employer–sponsored coverage increases over the life of the program.”

Depending on the final details of the bill, the cost could go as low as $750 billion to $800 billion, sources say.

Senate negotiators have struggled for months to pare down the price-tag of the overhaul while still trying to cover all Americans. As the economy continued to falter through the summer, lawmakers grew increasingly wary about passing a reform bill that topped $1 trillion.

Baucus has said his goal was to get a bill under $1 trillion mark – and by virtue of the lower cost, he would attract more Republican votes.

The lower cost estimate would make it harder for Republicans to characterize the bill as a bloated Democratic initiative.

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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25564.html#ixzz0MfUEjdTt

[John Q. Citizen]

1. hey Max! Single Payer would save more.than a trillion in ten years and insure everyone. Why are you

insistent on ripping off tax payers to line the pockets of the criminals who kill 18,000 Americans every week?

[DrToast]

2. It's not magic. All he did was offer fewer subsidies.

Hey Max, you could get a lower score if you cut even more subsidies.

Nobody would be able to afford insurance, but that's not your problem, is it?