THE HILL
 

Senate health bill comes in at $849B

By Jeffrey Young - 11/18/09 05:00 PM ET

The Senate healthcare bill soon to be unveiled by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) would spend $849 billion over 10 years to cover 31 million of the uninsured and reduce the federal budget deficit by $127 billion over 10 years.

According to information about the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cost estimate of the bill provided by a leadership aide, the bill also would reduce the deficit by as much as $650 billion over the second 10 years, though the CBO has consistently emphasized that projections outside the first 10 years are highly uncertain.

Reid plans to unveil the bill to the entire Democratic caucus at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday and will hold a press event Thursday afternoon to make a full announcement.

Fuller details about the bill and the complete CBO score should become available during and after the Democratic senators meet.

Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/68447--senate-health-bill-comes-in-at-849b

Comments (40)

This is a lie. Accounting tricks. Anyone who knows how to read a balance sheet and knows how projections are done can see right through it. LIE.BY Tom OHalloran on 11/18/2009 at 17:18
$127 BILLION reduction in deficit. More than HALF-A-TRILLION deficit reduction over the second 10 years. GREAT newsBY Ethan on 11/18/2009 at 17:32
Does this $849 Billion cost include the $247 Billion "Dr Fix"? What happens the CBO cost when they legalize the 15 million illegal aliens?BY tiredofit on 11/18/2009 at 17:35
So when the republicans use the nonpartisan CBO and get scores… that ISN'T a lie? Only when democrats use CBO and get scores.. it's accounting tricks… right?BY Skip Brenner on 11/18/2009 at 17:37
Tom—- when it suited Republicans' purposes deflating the ultimate cost of the wars in Iraq, the CBO was their unassailable ally, their pole star; now that it's citing health care costs that don't agree with the bile and bloviation, now you throw the CBO under the bus? Anybody makin' pancakes 'round here, 'cause I'm sensin' some flip-floppin.BY Honest Abe on 11/18/2009 at 17:38
Ethan,Either you are a pawn of Organizing for America, Barry's (Obama's real name) thought police, or you are really just clueless as to how wrong this estimate is. Go back and look at what the projections were for Medicare for this year. We've far surpassed them and it is a major drain of tax payer dollars and trillions of unfunded liabilities. Do you believe everything they tell you? Can you even count or read history books?BY John on 11/18/2009 at 17:41
10 years worth of taxes, 5 years worth of benefits…now thats fuzzy math..just guess what it will cost the second 10 years..This counntry is going down the tubes with these clownsBY Paul on 11/18/2009 at 17:54
Honest Abe,I've just started reading this website and I have to say, you are a really nasty person who hatefully attacks anyone who doesn't agree with you. Why?BY Nancy from NE on 11/18/2009 at 17:59
John, you're either uninformed, misinformed or a lying hypocrite. Medicare Part D (prescription drug benefit) cost well over $1 TRILLION, was paid-for through debt and deficit spending (aka YOUR TAXES), and was passed on a party-line vote entirely by the Republican Party and signed by President Bush. They even threatened the actuary not to report the actual sum total of the bill lest he be fired. The GOP's projected cost was around $400B but wound up being over $1T. It's why Medicare costs are rising, the Republican idiots who wrote the bill (aka drug industry lobbyists) refused to allow the federal government to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. The House GOP even held the vote on the bill open for over 3 HOURS despite the vote having a 15 minute time limit… I may not have the numbers exactly right, but these are the basic facts behind Medicare. Look them up. So, blahblahblah I'm clueless and all that, heard it all before. Wake up fool.BY Ethan on 11/18/2009 at 18:01
Paul. In the second ten year period it saves EVEN MORE, MUCH MORE: $650 Billion! So much for all your arguments.BY Don on 11/18/2009 at 18:06

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