The Congressional Budget Office released its long-awaited score on the Senate Finance Committee's health care plan, saying it will cost only $829 billion over 10 years, reducing the federal deficit by $81 billion in that span. That's an improvement over the initial chairman's mark, which the CBO had estimated would save $49 billion. The analysis is sure to make Chairman Max Baucus' plan a hit, since it fulfills President Obama's wish to keep the health care expansion budget-neutral.

The cost of expanding health coverage would be offset largely by a tax on high-end insurance plans and penalties on companies not offering health insurance to their employees. The CBO says the plan would give 94 percent of Americans health insurance, leaving the number of uninsured at 25 million.

The next step is for the committee to vote, which should happen in the next few days. Several senators on the committee had asked for more time after the CBO report's release to release the text of the bill online. However, the plan's reduced cost will likely sway some moderate Democrats, who said they were waiting to see the plan's impact on the deficit.

The CBO analysis is available here.