CBO Says Baucus Bill a Big Money Saver

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Following on Sen. Kent Conrad’s request, the Congressional Budget Office has analyzed the Finance Committee’s draft bill–not just for a 10 year window, but for a 20 year window–and concluded that it would be a big money saver. From 2010 through 2019, the legislation, if enacted as is, would reduce the federal deficit by $49 billion. And, in a rough projection, CBO found that the bill would continue to provide savings relative to current law, for the 10 years thereafter. Though there’s a tremendous amount of uncertainty, from 2020 through 2029 the legislation would save on the order of .5 percent of GDP

As I noted yesterday, Conrad requested an extended outlook, likely with the intent of giving this bill a political boost. Conrad and the “Gang of Six” worked closely with CBO chief Doug Elmendorf while crafting the bill, and almost certainly knew that it would score favorably, particularly in comparison to the Senate HELP bill and House legislation, which do less to control the rate of health care inflation.

Latest DC
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: