Congressional Budget Office director Doug Elmendorf has posted his shop's latest analysis of the House version of the health care reform bill. It says the legislation will:

• Generate a surplus of $129 billion over the next decade and slightly smaller surpluses thereafter;
• Insure about 36 million additional Americans, bringing the total to 96 percent of the overall population; and
• Leave about 18 million American uninsured, a third of whom will be illegal immigrants.

The increased coverage in the House bill will be financed largely through efficiencies in Medicare and a surtax on high-income individuals. While there is some sleight of hand in the bill (it doesn't include money to pay for maintaining physician income through Medicare at current levels), it is preferable to the Senate version which puts the onus of higher taxes on so-called Cadillac plans, which will fall heavily on middle-income families who have either negotiated generous benefits over the years in lieu of wage increases (unionized and public sector workers, for the most part) or work for employers with older workforces who pay higher rates.