The Sausage Emerges

by Patrick Appel

The house released its healthcare reform bill (pdf) yesterday afternoon. Here is the CBO analysis. Ezra Klein has a snap analysis. So does Cohn. Here is Ezra on the costs:

The Congressional Budget Office has released its estimates for the coverage side of this bill. They project that within 10 years, it will cost $1 trillion and cover 97 percent of the legal population....If I'm reading this correctly, about half is paid for through $500 billion or so in savings from Medicare and Medicaid. The rest comes from a surtax on the richest 1.5 percent. The surtax is 1 percent on income between $350,000 and $500,000; 1.5 percent on income between $500,000 and $1,000,000; and 5.4 percent in income above $1,000,000. The surtax can vary if the bill is less or more expensive than initially anticipated. There are also revenue expectations from the employer and individual mandates, though they're relatively modest ($200 billion over 10 years is one estimate I've heard).

I'll keep an eye out for good commentary throughout the day. Let me know if you see any sane conservative critiques.