Senate Still Waiting on Release of Final Health Bill, CBO Analysis

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) “may not release details of the health care reform compromise and Congressional Budget Office cost analysis until Saturday morning,” Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told POLITICO Friday.

“We’re working out some language changes that have to be incorporated into the manager’s amendment,” Durbin said. “They are small, but they are details we are still working out.”

"I don’t know if it will be the end of the day or first thing tomorrow morning," Durbin said.

Republicans have pounced on the lack of a final bill so close to the start of final procedural votes.

The lack of details – less than 72 hours before senators are scheduled to cast the first key vote on the bill – came under attack Friday from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"The majority leader has signaled that he is going to unveil the most significant piece of domestic legislation in memory, and his goal after introducing that measure in the morning presumably would be, of course, to vote on it some 36 hours after that,” McConnell said. “What we know for sure at the moment, is that we’ve seen the Pelosi Bill and we’ve seen the Reid bill, but none of us… have seen the newest bill, which is a mystery to virtually everyone, including the Democratic leaders of the Senate."

(credit image – getty)