The Washington Post (12/1, Montgomery) reports that as the Senate began debate on its healthcare reform bill, the Congressional Budget Office "said the measure would leave premiums unchanged or slightly lower for the vast majority of Americans, contradicting assertions by the insurance industry that the average family's coverage would rise by thousands of dollars if the proposal became law." The CBO report "was released hours before the Senate began debate on the package," and it "said the legislation would lead to higher average premiums in the relatively small and troubled individual market, where the self-employed and others buy coverage directly from insurers. But that extra cost would buy better coverage, the CBO said, and hefty federal subsidies would drive down payments by nearly 60 percent on average for low- and middle-income families."

        USA Today (12/1, Fritze) reports the CBO said "for the 70% of Americans who will sign up for health insurance through a large company in 2016, average premiums would remain steady or fall by as much as 3% compared with prices if the legislation doesn't pass." The Washington Times (12/1, Haberkorn) reports the CBO report says "people who purchase healthcare individually could face premium hikes of up to 13 percent under the Senate healthcare overhaul, but the vast majority of Americans would not be hit by rate increases." CBO "found that the approximately 18 million people who buy insurance on the individual market and qualify for new income-based tax subsidies would see their costs fall by more than half; the 14 million people who don't qualify would see their costs jump 10 to 13 percent." The Wall Street Journal (12/1, A4, Adamy, Hitt, subscription required) also reports the story.

        The Hill (12/1, Young, subscription required) reports Senate Democrats and Republicans "seized on" the CBO report "to bolster their arguments on the same day the floor debate formally commenced." To Democrats, "the report affirms the bill offers affordable access to healthcare to tens of millions of people without insurance while offering modest relief to the nearly 160 million people who receive insurance through their jobs." Republicans "contend that the findings prove the Senate legislation would result in higher premiums for millions of people compared to what it would cost them in today's market."

        However, in a front-page story, the New York Times (12/1, A1, Pear, Herszenhorn) reports that the analysis "provided Democrats with ammunition against Republicans who have criticized the bill on the ground that it would raise costs for a majority of Americans." The CBO concluded that "for most people who get health insurance through employers -- five-sixths of the total market -- there would be little change in their premiums relative to the amounts projected under current law."

        The Christian Science Monitor (12/1, Chaddock) calls the CBO report "highly qualified. Any estimates of the impact of such substantial changes in the health insurance and healthcare sectors must reflect 'considerable uncertainty,' the report concludes." Still, "the nuances quickly fell out of the political firestorm around healthcare reform." The AP (12/1), Bloomberg News (12/1, Nussbaum), and Reuters (12/1, Smith, Whitesides) also cover the story.

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