Budget office holds enormous power on health bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — They don’t vote or hold a veto pen, yet Congress’ number-crunchers wield oversize influence on President Barack Obama’s health-overhaul agenda.

Doubt it? Consider this — lawmakers are anxiously awaiting Congressional Budget Office calculations on the Senate health-care bill, and debate on the historic measure can’t start in earnest until the agency renders its verdict.

In a flurry of proposals and numbers, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has been seeking the CBO’s answers for weeks, even as the House passed its own version of legislation extending health coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and enacting tough new restrictions on insurance companies.

Reid’s bill and the accompanying CBO analysis are expected next week. If the budget office says the bill is too expensive or doesn’t reduce the deficit, moderate Democrats could flee, and Republicans would have fresh ammunition. If the numbers are on target, Reid will have a stronger hand to corral support as debate begins.

The wait has been lengthy precisely because Reid is aiming to ensure that when the budget office releases its analysis it hits certain marks.

The complex legislation, which Reid is taking a free hand in writing based on two committee-passed bills, must not exceed Obama’s specified price tag of $900 billion over 10 years, and it must not add to the deficit. Ultimately, it must be able to get the 60 votes needed to advance in the 100-member Senate.

“We’ve sent them a list of options; they raise questions. We answer them, we raise other questions, they answer them. The goal is to put together the best bill possible,” Reid spokesman Jim Manley said Friday. “Senator Reid made a decision a while ago that he wants to get this right before taking it to the floor.”

CBO must do the math in response to each new idea from Reid, then redo it as Reid tweaks his proposals.