AP: House Dems trim health bill to $871B

WASHINGTON - October 20, 2009 That's according to a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the deliberations were private. The aide cautioned that the figures were preliminary and final decisions on certain aspects of the plan hadn't been made.

The $871 billion is well within President Barack Obama's preferred price tag of $900 billion over a decade. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said earlier that the bill also would reduce the deficit.

Getting to $871 billion requires going with a strong government plan to sell insurance in competition with private insurers - something Pelosi and liberals have pushed for.

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