By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The House is edging closer to a final,
climactic vote this weekend on a sweeping health-care overhaul bill, as
numbers from congressional budget analysts show the measure will slash
the U.S. budget deficit.
The final House version of the bill will cost $940 billion over a
decade, while saving more than $1 trillion over 20 years, a Democratic
aide said Thursday, citing a Congressional Budget Office finding.
AM Report: The Health-Care Endgame
Democrats are inches away from building a majority that could pass a
monumental restructuring of the health-care system, WSJ's Jerry Seib
reports. He breaks down the bill as it stands now and what is still
needed to close the deal.
The CBO figures set the stage for a vote on the bill Sunday, one of the last steps in a yearlong drive by President Barack Obama to enact historic health-care reform.
The cost figures are critical to winning support from fiscally
conservative Democrats, whose reservations about the bill have forced
the White House and Democratic leaders to work overtime to win votes.
In the House, 216 votes are needed for passage.
The House Democratic Whip, James Clyburn of South Carolina, said his
party is "absolutely giddy over the great news that we've gotten from
the CBO," Fox News reported.
The bill would slash the deficit by $130 billion in the first 10 years, and by $1.2 trillion in the second decade, the aide said.
Republicans, meanwhile, said they're still planning to try to kill the legislation.
"They're still going to spend a trillion dollars so we impose
government-run health care on the American people," said House
Republican Leader John Boehner.
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