Senate GOP wants CMS to score Reid's bill before debate begins

Senate Republicans have written Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) demanding that an alternate scoring of the health bill be conducted before debate begins.

25 Republicans said in a letter that the Senate's health bill should be allowed a budget analysis by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) before Reid brings his bill to the Senate floor.

"Unfortunately, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has been unable to produce an estimate of the effect of the bills before us on overall medical spending though we note that the CMS Actuary has provided such an assessment of an earlier version of the House health reform bill," wrote the senators, led by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.).

"Therefore, we request that you submit the legislation to the Office of the Actuary at CMS for analysis and make the findings public before you bring the bill to the Senate floor for consideration," they added.

The senators wrote Reid on Thursday and publicized the request on Monday, after a CMS score of the House health bill released this past weekend showed that medical costs would rise for consumers under that proposal.

House Republicans, like their Senate counterparts, had specifically requested that CMS scoring, though it came after the House narrowly voted to approve its health reform bill.

Reid is set to move to begin debate this week, once the CBO releases its score of the bill.

Read the entire letter (and its signatories) here.

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