The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today estimated that President Barack Obama's proposed health care reform bill would cut the federal deficit by $130 billion over the next decade and $1.2 trillion over 10 years after that.
The legislation would cost an estimated $940 billion over 10 years and would provide health care insurance to more than 30 million people who currently lack it. The bill would expand insurance coverage through a combination of tax credits for middle class households and an expansion of the Medicaid program for low-income people, as well as provide tax breaks for small businesses that provide insurance for their employees. The bill also would forbid insurance companies from denying coverage to patients with pre-existing conditions.
The bill also would impose new obligations on individuals, requiring for the first time that most Americans carry health insurance. In addition, the bill would penalize medium-sized and large companies that do not provide coverage for their workers.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the legislation is "the largest deficit-reduction bill that members will have a chance to vote on" in most of their congressional careers, The Washington Post reported..
The package contains "more deficit reduction than both the Senate bill and the House bill," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said today. "This is really a triumph for the American people in terms of deficit reduction."
The Democratic-controlled House is expected to take action on the bill by Sunday, although Republicans have opposed the measure every step of the way.
House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said his party's legislators will "do everything that we can do to make sure this bill never, ever, ever passes."
CBO’s final report says Obama’s health care reform bill would slice federal deficit
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