NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Democrats pushing for health care reform are closer to the finish line than ever, but it's not over yet. And the question of cost will remain a central issue in coming days.
On Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office weighed in with a key -- if still very preliminary -- cost estimate.
he latest bill is a mix of provisions from a bill the Senate passed last December and proposals made by President Obama recently.
Like the Senate version, the so-called reconciliation bill would provide government subsidies to low- and middle-income families buying health insurance on their own, expand eligibility rules for Medicaid and provide coverage for a majority of uninsured Americans.
It would also establish a number of insurance reforms.
The whole package will cost $940 billion over 10 years to provide expanded insurance coverage, according to the CBO forecast. In addition, the new plan could reduce the deficit by $138 billion over the first 10 years -- $20 billion more than the Senate bill.
Over the following decade, CBO projected, it could reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion, although the agency stressed that such long-term projections are highly uncertain. - CNN Story
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