By Daniel Costello

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has released a Senate health reform bill that analysts estimate would cost $849 billion over 10 years, and slash the deficit by $127 billion over the next decade.

Like a bill that passed the House on Nov. 7, the Senate bill aims to cover most Americans, bar insurers from denying coverage to people who are already ill, set up insurance exchanges where people can shop for coverage and fine those who don't have insurance.

It also sets up a government-run insurance plan, expected to enroll about 6 million people. That "public option" remains deeply controversial and is likely to keep most Republicans and conservative Democrats from supporting the bill.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 31 million people, from about 46 million today. The first procedural vote on the bill could come later this week.

President Barack Obama held a joint press conference Thursday with South Korean counterpart Lee Myung Bak to push a proposed free trade agreement with South Korea. The agreement has been stalled in Congress and is opposed by the U.S. auto lobby and unions, who argue it doesn't do enough to open up Korean markets.

The main sticking point has been autos. South Korea is a major exporter of cars to the U.S., but very few vehicles made in America are sold in South Korea, an imbalance some analysts say is market driven and not a result of trade barriers.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that failure to enact the accord means the loss of $35 billion in exports and 345,000 jobs.

Lastly, the number of people filing initial claims for state unemployment benefits was flat at a seasonally adjusted 505,000 in the week that ended Nov. 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Initial claims are at the lowest level since early January, but they have hovered above 500,000 for 53 straight weeks, contributing to a 26-year high in the U.S. unemployment rate.

categories: Morning Report

9:47 - November 19, 2009

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