After weeks of closed-door talks to merge two Senate bills, Sen. Reid told Democrats the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) pegged the plan's 10-year cost at $849 billion, below President Barack Obama's $900 billion goal for his top domestic priority.

The CBO analysis also said the plan would reduce the deficit by $127 billion over 10 years and $650 billion in the second decade while extending coverage to 31 million more Americans, Democrats said -- a rosy report card that could boost the bill's prospects in a sharply divided Senate.

. . . The bill's publication clears the way for a Senate vote on Friday or Saturday on whether to begin debate, the first key procedural hurdle for the Senate plan.

The Senate bill is considerably smaller than the more than $1 trillion health care measure passed earlier this month in the House of Representatives. That bill would have covered at least 5 million more uninsured.

. . . The Senate bill includes a government-run insurance option that lets states choose whether to participate, and would halt practices like denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions.

Sen. Reid's bill also would raise Medicare payroll taxes for the wealthiest Americans to help pay for it, and includes a tax on high-cost "Cadillac" insurance plans, Democratic senators briefed by Sen. Reid said.

The rest of the story . . . .

RELATED: A comparison of the House and Senate bills . . . .