http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34017224/ns ... re_reform/Measure would add coverage for 31 million, reduce deficit over 10 years
AP
WASHINGTON - The political stakes enormous, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid launched long-awaited health care legislation Wednesday estimated to extend coverage to 94 percent of eligible Americans at a cost of $849 billion.
Initial maneuvering on the Senate floor was expected later in the week on the measure, bitterly opposed by Republicans eager to deny President Barack Obama a victory on his top domestic priority.
Officials have said the measure would require most Americans to carry health insurance and would require large companies to provide coverage to their workers, as well as ban insurance company practices such as denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. As rank-and-file Democrats gathered to learn details of the measure, the Congressional Budget Office estimated it would spread coverage to 31 million Americans who currently lack it while still reducing federal deficits by a total of $127 billion over 10 years.
An aide said the CBO also estimated that the bill would achieve cuts of $1 trillion over a decade in projected health care costs. The estimate of 94 percent coverage was less than the 96 percent estimated for legislation the House passed earlier this month, but no precise comparisons were possible without as-yet-unreleased CBO documentation.
Aides have said previously much of the bill would be financed by cuts in projected Medicare payments. Reid has also had under consideration higher payroll taxes for upper wage earners, but there was no word on whether he had decided to incorporate that provision into the measure he crafted.
Ready, set, spin!
