President Obama says the independent, nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has concluded the current Senate Finance Committee bill would make health coverage affordable for millions of Americans who don't have it today.

VOA: standard.2009.10.10

Reid's health care bill, which will be given a cost assessment by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, also includes a provision from the Finance Committee bill allowing for the creation of nonprofit health care cooperatives that would negotiate collective insurance coverage for members.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

To trim bureaucratic powers, it proposes to hand over the Finance Ministry's budget-drafting responsibilities to a new body, the cabinet office.

CNN: Rise of a New Liberal Bloc

Mr Ocampo was also finance minister, though his time in office, 1996-98, saw the budget deficit balloon.

ECONOMIST: The World Bank