Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released an online report Dec. 18 projecting health insurance reform to lower health care costs by 1 percent, create 320,000 jobs nationwide and raise the median family income by $6,800 by 2030.

The Senate is expected to pass health care legislation on Christmas Eve. The House passed it’s version of the bill in early November. The legislation would then have to go to conference, where differences between the House and Senate bills would be addressed. A joint bill would then go back to both chambers for a final vote before President Obama is expected to sign.

Sebelius acknowledged that the bills are about an 85 percent match. Still, Unlike the Senate, the House bill includes a government-run health insurance plan, stricter limitations on abortion and would allow undocumented immigrants to purchase into the health exchange at full cost. These have all been serious points of contention throughout the health debate.

“We are quite aware that germs do not have visas,” Sebelius explained during a teleconference announcing the report. “That is why there is funding for a number of community health centers that are aimed at providing free health care to underserved communities like the Latino community.”

The report cites studies by Kaiser and the Congressional Budget Office, among others.

According to the report, health insurance reform will drive down premiums for families, limit out-of-pocket costs that eat into the family budget and provide “unprecedented stability and security.”

“Health insurance reform isn’t about politics, it’s about families. Every day, millions of families across the country wonder how they will pay their skyrocketing medical bills or what they will do if their children get sick,” Sebelius said in a teleconference announcing the report. “Those families are our priority and we are fighting to give them the affordable, secure, stable coverage they need.”

The report, “Protecting Families and Putting More Money in Your Pocket: How Health Insurance Reform Will Lower Costs and Increase Choices” is available at www.healthreform.gov