CBO director to testify on health care reform

Executive Summary

Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf is scheduled to testify before the Senate Finance Committee Feb. 25 on health care reform from the budget perspective. The hearing will delve into the budget effect of various items that might be considered as part of the health care reform debate that were laid out in a report issued in December 2008 (1"The Pink Sheet," Dec. 22, 2008, p. 20). Committee Chairman Max Baucus has been front and center on the health care reform debate, including the issuance of a white paper in November that will serve as the foundation for debate over reform options (2"The Pink Sheet," Nov. 17, 2008, p. 16). Baucus plans to introduce reform legislation "in the first part of the year," the hearing announcement states