Health Bill Would Cost $829B, Help Cover 94%

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Congressional Budget Office analysis says health care reform legislation drafted by the Senate Finance Committee would expand coverage to 94 percent of eligible Americans.

The CBO analysis puts the 10-year price tag at $829 billion. The preliminary estimate also says the draft bill cut federal deficits by $81 billion over that time.

White House spokesman Reid Cherlin says the CBO report "confirms" that health care reform can come "without adding a dime to the deficit" and while saving money over the long term.

The Senate Finance Committee version of the bill has a decided middle-of-the-road flavor, shunning a provision for the government to sell insurance in competition with private industry.

The CBO estimate was generally positive about that version, but notes the analysis doesn't include certain costs. Those include a mechanism that could bring cuts as large as 15 percent in subsidies designed to help the poor afford insurance.

A Senate Finance panel vote could come as soon as Friday.

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