The ink was hardly dry on today’s health-care bill delivered by Sen. Max Baucus (pictured) when Washington’s budget scorekeepers came up with a new number for the 10-year cost of the measure. But unlike the rash of health overhaul cost estimates lately, this one put a lower figure on the bill’s expected outlays. In announcing his bill this morning, Baucus said it was expected to cost $856 billion over a decade, spending that he said would be covered by other provisions. This afternoon, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it had come up with a preliminary cost number for the bill of $774 billion for 10 years, subject to further data checking. An aide for the Senate Finance Committee headed by Baucus said the different estimates had arisen because the committee had compiled gross costs of the bill, while the CBO had used net costs, according to

the WSJ . For instance, while the committee counts increased spending for Medicare payments to doctors as a part of the overall cost estimate, the CBO counts it as offsetting other Medicare cost reductions, according to the aide. In addition, the CBO said the bill if enacted as is, it would reduce the deficit by $49 billion over 10 years because the various revenue-generating provisions — such as a 35% excise tax on high-cost health insurance plans as well as spending reductions — would more than offset the added costs of expanding insurance coverage. The Baucus bill would result in 94% of nonelderly people receiving insurance coverage by 2019, excluding illegal immigrants, according to the CBO. Read more in the CBO letter here . Photo: Associated Press

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New Cost Estimate for Baucus Bill Arrives Already (Lower!)