A Congressional Budget Office report says the Senate-approved health-care bill will reduce the national deficit. That might help Democrats move the public and media focus off of procedural details and onto the bill's merits.

Much of the brouhaha over the bill has focused on its cost, and opponents have often griped that the legislation would increase the national debt. The CBO report gives House Democratic leaders some solid arguments against those claims.

This morning, Congress member Louise Slaughter's office forwarded over a brief that lays out the bill's benefits to her district. Among them, says Slaughter's office:

• People who have to buy their own insurance will receive tax credits.
• Certain small businesses that provide employees with health care plans will be eligible for tax credits.
• Insurers won't be able to dump subscribers if they become sick.
• Insurance companies will be prohibited from denying affordable plans to individuals with pre-existing conditions.
• Medicare recipients will get free preventive and wellness care and better prescription drug benefits under Medicare Part D.

Slaughter is especially keen to get the focus back on the bill's merits. As chair of the House Rules Committee, she has come under attack by Republicans and their allies for proposing the use of a procedural rule called "deeming." It's a wonky concept, but it basically lets members of the House pass the Senate-approved legislation by voting on a procedural rule and changes to the bill, not the bill itself.

Both parties have used this method in the past, but Republicans are accusing Democratic leaders of trying to ram the legislation through. If a few more Democrats come around to a yes vote, however, the bill will be ushered through, not rammed through.