CBO: Senate bill will cost $849b

Bill would cost less $42 billion than House counterpart.

The Senate's health care bill will cost $849 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office estimates.

That puts it well below the $900 billion target set by President Barack Obama in a speech earlier this year, giving valuable momentum to the push for the bill, Alex Wayne and Kathleen Hunter report.

Though the full report is not yet available, senior Democratic aide who had seen it said that it would cover 31 million uninsured Americans and reduce the deficit by $127 billion over 10 years.

By comparison, the CBO estimated that the health care bill that passed the House would cost $891 billion, cover 36 million uninsured and reduce the deficit by $109 billion over 10 years.

The Congressional Budget Office is in charge of telling Congress how much legislation will cost taxpayers .

Reid said he is optimistic he'll get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

"I am going to have a bill that's fiscally responsible," he said. "Of all the bills we’ve seen, it’ll be the best: saves more money, is more protective of Medicare, is a bill that’s good for the American people."

-- Ryan Teague Beckwith, Congress.org

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