| The Congressional Budget Office has released its "score" of the Senate Finance Committee's health care bill. The bill actually reduces the deficit by over $80 billion over the next ten years and by more over time. It also likely leaves about 6% of the population uninsured.
The Finance bill is unique as I understand it in being long-term budget positive according to CBO projections, but it also seems to me that the score could be improved by adding a public option, which is still possibly in the cards, and that the outcome would be improved both by a public option and by taking some of those savings and routing them toward subsidies to achieve universal coverage.
Ezra Klein has more, of course, as does Jonathon Cohn.
Ezra thinks that this score will be sufficient to get the bill out of the Finance Committee, which is the most conservative committee in the Senate.
Remember, before this bill heads to the floor of the Senate, it will be merged with the HELP bill authored by Ted Kennedy (negotiators will include Harkin, Baucus, and the Administration). That merging is overseen by Harry Reid.
The House has yet to vote on a final bill and the progressive caucus is whipping hard on a public option.
Note, of course, that the Senate still has issues if Reid opts for a public option in the bill when it hits the floor. Max Baucus has been where he is because of the desire to break the filibuster. Reid can pursue a different route: daring Joe Liberman, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln, and Kent Conrad to filibuster health reform.
Either way, once bills come out of the House and the Senate, into conference we go. Whatever comes out of there heads back for up or down votes but the Senate can still filibuster if some Dems and all the GOP decide to deny health reform an up-or-down vote. |
