The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released the score of the health care reform bill with the package of reconciliation fixes. The legislation will cost $940 billion, reduce the deficit by $130 billion over 10 years, and cover 95 percent of Americans.

While political battles still loom in both the House and Senate before health care reform reaches the President’s desk, many are braced for potential legal challenges to reform.

First, the constitutionality of “deem and pass” has been called into question. POLITICO reporter Fred Barbash notes that Supreme Court rulings in 1983 and 1998 held that the only way to enact a law according to the Constitution is to pass a bill through both houses of Congress and have the President sign the legislation.

House Republicans have responded to the discussion of using what has been coined as the “Slaughter Solution” by proposing H. Res. 1188 to ensure an up or down vote on the underlying health care legislation.

In addition, Idaho Governor Butch Otter (R) signed a bill into law yesterday that directs the State Attorney General to file a lawsuit if the health care reform bill enacted by the U.S. Congress includes an individual mandate. As many as 30 other states are considering similar legislation. Even if both Houses pass health care reform legislation prior to the Spring recess, it is clear that the debate on health care reform will not be done.

House and Senate Leadership have agreed to forgo the formal conference process to reconcile differences in their respective health care reform bills. Rather the House and Senate will engage in a process known as “amendment exchange.”  A detailed report from CRS explains the procedure.

The decision to forgo the conference process means that there will not be a corresponding Conference Report for the final health care reform legislation. Such reports are helpful in clarifying Congressional intent. And while a joint explanatory statement (often called the managers’ statement) can be submitted to the Congressional Record, it is not a required action in the amendment exchange process.

Last December, C-SPAN sent a letter to House and Senate Leadership urging them allow media coverage of negotiations to reconcile the differences in the bills. On January 5, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) responded that the health care legislation has been subjected to an increased level of scrutiny.  He indicated that the House will continue to have an open process and continue to inform the public. However, at that time, Congressional Leadership had not made the decision to pursue an amendment exchange strategy to reconcile the bills. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has also responded by saying that he is committed to ensuring that the public has an opportunity to review a final bill before its passage. Nonetheless, Republicans (and some Democrats) have continued to call for open negotiations and petitions have gone viral.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) indicated his hope to have changes to the bill sent to the Congressional Budget Office by Friday or Saturday.