Max Baucus: “this amendment is a thinly disguised attempt to kill health care reform. Let me explain why. I remind my colleagues that…”

“this amendment is a thinly disguised attempt to kill health care reform. Let me explain why. I remind my colleagues that the Congressional Budget Office has told us that in the first 10 years the bill actually will reduce the deficit by a significant amount. CBO also informs us that health care reform will lower premiums for 97 percent of Americans, improve benefits for many who are underinsured, and health care reform will bend the growth curve of health care spending. The CMS Actuary also says that national health care spending will be lower under the law than it will be without reform. In 2019, health spending will be 6.7 percent, compared to 7.2 without reform. To prohibit implementation unless all these projections bear out is just another attempt to kill the bill. For that reason, I urge colleagues to resist this amendment.”