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New York (CNNMoney.com) – The health care bill that faces a crucial test vote in the Senate on Saturday is proof that getting reform passed and getting it right are two very different things.

Both are hard. But the pursuit of votes has weakened key elements with the most promise of reducing overall health spending.

Exhibit A: The eleventh-hour introduction of a Medicare tax hike as a way to help pay for reform.

Health care reform, to succeed, must not only help more people get coverage but also slow the growth in health costs and spending.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Confused about whether lawmakers will extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit and what it would look like?

That's understandable, since the situation is still very fluid.

Here's where things stand.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – While momentum is building on Capitol Hill to extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit, President Obama's housing secretary said Tuesday the administration has not decided whether to support its expansion.

Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan told the Senate Banking Committee that the administration wanted more time to better assess the cost of the credit, which expires on Nov. 30.

"Within a few weeks we'll have sufficient data to get to a conclusion on this," Donovan said. "It's a question of understanding more fully the costs to the taxpayer."

He said there is "clear evidence" the credit has had some positive benefits and that its expiration could have "some negative implications" for the housing market.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - There will be no cost-of-living increase for 57 million Social Security beneficiaries next year because consumer prices have fallen, the Social Security Administration announced on Thursday.

It marks the first time that Social Security benefits have not been increased year over year since the cost-of-living adjustment was put into
effect in 1975.

To help counterbalance the hit, President Obama is calling on Congress to send another $250 relief payment to seniors and other Americans to stem the economic strain.

"Even as we seek to bring about recovery, we must act on behalf of those hardest hit by this recession," Obama said in a statement Wednesday. "That is why I am announcing my support for an additional $250 in emergency recovery assistance to seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities to help them make it through these difficult times."

Last year, Social Security beneficiaries got a 5.8% cost-of-living adjustment, the largest since 1982, largely because of the spike in energy prices.

"This year, in light of the human need, we need to support President Obama's call for us to make another $250 recovery payment for 57 million Americans," said Commissioner of Social Security Michael J. Astrue in a written statement.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - President Obama is calling on Congress to send another $250 payment to 57 million seniors and other Americans to stem the economic strain.

Congress approved $250 emergency payments as part of the $787 billion economic recovery act that lawmakers passed in February.

"Even as we seek to bring about recovery, we must act on behalf of those hardest hit by this recession," Obama said in a statement Wednesday. "That is why I am announcing my support for an additional $250 in emergency recovery assistance to seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities to help them make it through these difficult times."

The measure would cost $13 billion over 10 years, according to White House estimates.

The $250 is roughly equal to a 2% increase in benefits for the average Social Security beneficiary.

The move would help counter the effect of an expected announcement that Social Security recipients will not get a cost of living bump in 2010. Such adjustments are tied to economic factors such as inflation, which has remained low because of the recession.

The call for increased benefits for seniors is one of several proposals to expand stimulus benefits. Lawmakers are also considering extending unemployment benefits and the homebuyer tax credit, both of which were included in the economic stimulus bill passed in February.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – The White House now expects the 10-year budget deficit to reach $9.05 trillion, roughly $2 trillion more than it estimated earlier in the year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Office of Management and Budget.

Budget office director Peter Orszag pointed to a number of measures put in place to stem the pain of the economic downturn.

"As a result of a deeper-than-expected recession, certain spending programs (such as unemployment insurance and food stamps) are projected to automatically increase and revenues are projected to automatically decline, compared to our previous projection," Orszag said in a statement.

A 10-year deficit of $9 trillion means the debt held by the public - the accumulation of all annual deficits over the decades - would reach 82% of gross domestic product. That's double the 41% recorded in 2008.

The administration's new deficit estimate brings it more in line with an earlier deficit estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, which is Congress' official scorekeeper. The CBO had estimated that the 10-year deficit would reach $9.14 trillion, or 5.2% of gross domestic product.

Later Tuesday morning the CBO also will release its updated budget and economic outlook for fiscal years 2009 to 2019.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - In just over a month, the federal government's fiscal year will draw to a close, leaving in its wake one of the biggest annual deficits in U.S. history - and a forecast of more record debt to come.

Just how much more will be the question on Tuesday.

The Congressional Budget Office and the White House Office of Management and Budget are set to release separate updates of their 10-year deficit estimates, along with updates on their economic outlooks.

The agencies' previous estimates - based on the president's proposed 2010 budget - were about $2 trillion apart.

The CBO, which serves as Congress' official scorekeeper, had the higher estimate: $9.14 trillion over 10 years or 5.2% of gross domestic product.

By comparison, the Obama administration's budget office forecast a $7.11 trillion deficit or 4% of GDP.

The White House's economic estimates were seen by many as too optimistic. For instance, the administration estimated that unemployment would hit a peak of 8.1% this year. Actual unemployment numbers have already surpassed that level - hitting 9.4% in July. And many economists expect the number to reach 10% before too long.

Last week, White House officials said their new 10-year deficit forecast will be in the neighborhood of $9 trillion, in part because Uncle Sam is pulling down less tax revenue than expected. That would bring it more in line with the CBO's previous forecast.

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Before health care can be cleared off the plate, Obama will have to answer some key tax questions.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - President Obama's fall agenda has grown largeras some of the biggest decisions - and fights - over health care reform have been punted to September ... at the earliest.

But health reform is not the only major initiative he wants to get done. Far from it. There's climate change. There's reforming Wall Street. And, of course, there's passing a budget for 2010 at a time of huge deficits. Running in the background to all of this will be one of the biggest
issues the Obama administration must address: taxes.

"As soon as they can clear health care off the plate, it will be taxes, taxes, taxes," said Anne Mathias, director of research at Concept Capital's
Washington Research Group.

Health reform taxes: Before health care can be cleared off the plate, Obama will have to answer some key tax questions.

For starters, he will need to be more explicit about what he will accept in terms of increasing taxes to pay for health reform and indicate exactly which of the revenue raisers on the table in Congress he considers deal-breakers.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - A lot was supposed to happen on health reform before Congress went on summer vacation. Turns out, a lot didn't. End result: The heavy lifting on health reform legislation has been pushed to the fall.

A bipartisan group of six senators from the Senate Finance Committee was supposed to unveil its health reform bill - or at least an outline. But the group couldn't resolve some outstanding issues such as how to make sure the health insurance structures they're proposing end up being affordable.

It's also unclear whether the group will release a draft before the start of the Senate summer recess next Friday. That means the full committee, to say nothing of the full Senate, won't begin to debate the proposal until the leaves start turning a lovely autumn orange.

Meanwhile, House leaders had been promising a full floor vote on health reform before the congressional recess, which begins on Saturday. But that idea was tabled once it became clear that the last of the three committees - the Energy and Commerce Committee - wouldn't report the bill out of committee until the 11th hour.

That means the full House won't take up a health reform bill before fall.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The health reform bills released so far would increase government spending on health care without sufficiently reining in health care costs.

And at least initially they aren't likely to significantly lower premiums for the majority of Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance.

That's the sobering takeaway from testimony Thursday by Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf.

Elmendorf's preliminary conclusions were based on a bill jointly released by three committees in the House this week and another bill passed by the Senate health committee on Wednesday.

"The creation of a new subsidy for health insurance ... would by itself raise federal spending on health care. ... [T]o offset that there have to be substantial reductions (on the tax or spending sides of the ledger]," Elmendorf told the Senate Budget Committee. "The changes we've looked at so far don't represent the fundamental change on the order of magnitude that would be necessary."

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Lawmakers searching for a way to pay for health care reform are facing some rough waters.

Very rough.

Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has said repeatedly that health reform would be paid for with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.

Baucus and others have made some progress through savings in Medicare, Medicaid and other programs.

On Wednesday, for instance, Vice President Biden said hospitals would reduce costs by $155 billion over 10 years. But nothing is final until that deal between the White House and business - and a similar one reached with drugmakers last month - is written into legislation.

And on the revenue side of the equation, there is still no apparent consensus.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - It is one of the touchiest issues in the health care debate: Would a government-run health plan upend the employer-based health insurance system used by 160 million Americans?

Senate Democrats behind a key proposal released Thursday say the answer is no.

Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., say their plan would preserve employer-sponsored insurance coverage and create an affordable public option for those who need it.

"The ... bill virtually eliminates the dropping of currently covered employees from employer-sponsored health plans," Kennedy and Dodd said in a letter to members of the Health Committee, one of two Senate groups working on health reform.

The bill includes a "pay or play" provision that would require employers to provide adequate coverage for their workers or subsidize a system that will.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – The promise of health reform is to make care more accessible for everybody - and to reduce the federal deficit by slowing the growth rate in costs.

But the promise of deficit reduction through health reform might be overstated.

Here's why: Even if reform works well, the cost savings will not be nearly enough to tackle the debt ogre breathing down Uncle Sam's neck.

"Ultimately, the long-term budget outlook will necessitate serious tax and spending changes," says the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which is led by tax and budget experts from the left and the right.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The federal government is likely to spend $835 billion this year fighting the crises in the financial system and the economy, according to a new report by the Congressional Budget Office.

That spending represents about 6% of the nation's gross domestic product.

Of that amount, $340 billion is going toward the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which is being used primarily to bail out banks, insurers and the auto industry. Another $290 billion in 2009 outlays is being used to prop up mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500).

In addition, $187 billion is being used for economic stimulus and relief efforts such as extended unemployment insurance.

As expensive as that seems, the CBO notes that "the current recession has little effect on long-term projections of non-interest spending and revenues."

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – There's a lot of talking going on about health care reform and urgent warnings of what will happen if it doesn't pass. But for all the talk, there's very little clarity for the public about what kind of reform has a serious chance of passing and how lawmakers intend to pay for it.

The reason: Legitimate disagreement about how the country should overhaul the health care system. And it's not just between Democrats and Republicans. It's within the parties as well.

Vigorous debate is inevitable and necessary. After all, health care reform would be the biggest and most complex undertaking that lawmakers have dealt with in decades, and it would have consequences for every American.

But President Obama has set a tight deadline. He wants both the House and Senate to pass their health reform bills by Aug. 1.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Americans are being told daily that health reform isn't just the right thing to do - it will also help save the economy.

"Health care reform is not part of the problem when it comes to our fiscal future, it is a fundamental part of the solution," President Obama said in a recent address.

The crux of the problem: The United States spends far more on health care than do other developed countries, but it often gets far less bang for its buck. Meanwhile, a large number of Americans either can't afford insurance or have insurance that doesn't adequately cover their medical costs.

The kicker, of course, is that rising costs are making the country's long-term fiscal picture very, very ugly.

For many, the Washington debate over the mind-bending details of different options obscures the issue of what's at stake. What is the threat to the economy if no action is taken? What happens if a health system overhaul succeeds ... and what are the economic perils if it fails?

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The Congressional Budget Office has issued a report estimating the costs of two key proposals for reforming the nation's health care system.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Two key proposals to improve access to health insurance could reduce the ranks of the uninsured but cost $1 trillion over 10 years, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by the Congressional Budget Office.

The estimates are the first in a series over the next few months that will attempt to quantify the costs and benefits of various health reform options. President Obama, citing the huge part health care spending plays in the economy, has made passing reform this year a top priority.

The report by CBO, an independent agency that scores legislative proposals for lawmakers, focuses on proposals to create health insurance exchanges and subsidize the cost of insurance for some households.

The agency estimated that the exchange and subsidies could reduce the number of uninsured people by roughly 16 million by 2015. It is estimated there would otherwise be 51 million uninsured that year.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Ah, summer: Time to enjoy a quiet vacation. Kick back with a good book. Walk on the beach.

Not Douglas Elmendorf. He'll spend the next two months suffering voodoo-eyes from powerful people on Capitol Hill.

Elmendorf is director of the Congressional Budget Office, the ordinarily low-profile federal agency that will estimate how much money health reform will cost or save.

The CBO's estimates, the first set of which are due next week, carry a lot of weight because Congress uses them in making legislative decisions.http://cnnpoliticalticker.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php?preview=true

In an age of trillion-dollar budget deficits, the numbers will carry even more weight than usual.

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The president is set to deliver remarks about his budget on Thursday morning.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The White House on Thursday will detail a proposal to save $17 billion next year by eliminating or reducing 121 federal programs, according to a senior administration official.

Roughly $11.5 billion of the savings would come from the discretionary side of the fiscal 2010 budget - that is, for programs whose funding is not automatic. And roughly half of the savings would come from non-defense programs, the official said Wednesday.

"In many cases we have multiple programs that do the same things," the official said in a briefing call with reporters. "Duplication can be the enemy of efficiency."

In other cases, the results of the targeted programs didn't justify the expense, the official said.

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The goal is to help create new jobs in the United States and make the tax code fairer.

But tax policy experts and corporate lobbyists said said the measures, unless accompanied by a reduction in the corporate tax rate, will push more companies to move their operations - and jobs – overseas to more tax friendly countries.

The White House and Treasury Department laid out three proposals that they say will eliminate the current tax advantages U.S.-based multinationals get for investing and creating jobs abroad.

Among them, reforming the "deferral" rule that lets U.S.-based multinationals take deductions on their expenses supporting overseas operations but defer paying income tax on the profits they make from their overseas operations. They only need to pay U.S. income tax on those profits if and when they bring that money back to the United States.

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