Senate Finance to Vote on Health Reform on Tuesday (Oct 13th)

The Senate Finance Committee will vote next Tuesday, Oct. 13, on the pending health reform bill based on announcements today from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT). The announcement came one day after a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis projected that the bill would cost $829 billion and reduce federal deficits by a total of $81 billion over 10 years which is one of President Obama’s main requirements for health reform. The bill would also expand coverage from 83 percent to 94 percent of non elderly Americans over 10 years.

Republicans including Senator Charles Grassely (R-IA) have cautioned that the celebration of reducing the deficit "masks who pays the bills" and that the package includes hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes and fees. Expect to see a long day Tuesday as Senate Finance members will likely have many questions regarding the CBO analysis and projections released yesterday.

While the Senate Finance Health Reform was developed by a bipartisan team, many project that the final votes for health reform within the Senate Finance Committee may end up appearing largely partisan.