U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett has spent months advocating health care reform that was recently signed into law by President Barack Obama.

"It's not the perfect bill. I would have preferred a much stronger bill, but for most Americans, it's much better than where we are today," he said.

Doggett said the controversial and historic legislation provides immediate benefits and will help reduce the deficit over time.

"If you have health insurance right now, you get some valuable consumer protection, some of which become available immediately," he said.

Immediate benefits of the bill include tax breaks for small businesses that offer health insurance.

"Seniors gain," Doggett said. "Seniors begin to get some immediate benefits, like starting to fill the 'doughnut hole' that is a gap in prescription drug coverage."

Senior citizens who fall into Medicare’s part D "doughnut hole" will get a $250 rebate this year, and a 50 percent discount on brand names next year, in an effort to close the gap between two expense benchmarks that leaves patients paying 100 percent out-of-pocket on prescription drugs.

"Medicare will be strengthened," Doggett said.

The Congressional Budget Office expects that Medicare spending would increase, however, at a significantly slower pace during the next two decades than it has increased during the past two decades, after adjusting for inflation.

The CBO also notes that it is uncertain whether a reduction in the growth rate of spending could be achieved.

The CBO estimate does stipulate that payment rates to providers of Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP provisions, combined, would decrease by about $455 billion incrementally over the next 10 years.

"Under current law, payment rates for physicians’ services in Medicare would be reduced by about 21 percent in 2010 and then decline further in subsequent years," according to the CBO report.

The 21-percent cut to the physician reimbursement fee, however, is not a part of the recently passed health care reform bill, but rather comes from a 1997 Congressional budget provision. The provision was part of an effort to fix the former system that tied the fees to a complicated formula calculating economic factors.

Some argue that cuts to payment rates will make it harder for physicians to cover medical costs and will result in a reduction in care for the elderly and disabled.

The bill will also cut $136 billion in spending by 2019 in the Medicare Advantage plan, which affects approximately 10 million seniors. Supporters of the provision said private companies that administered the service added wasteful benefits to increase rates.

Many have raised concern regarding the manner in which the legislation was passed. Democrats used legislative tactics, including reconciliation, to gather enough votes to pass the bill. No Republicans voted for the measure, saying the process was divisive and heavy-handed.

"We tried over and over again to come together and get a bipartisan solution. It became very clear to me last summer that they refused that kind of approach," Doggett said.

While many talks between Democrats went on behind closed doors, Obama did hold meetings with members of both parties, both behind closed doors and on live television, to garner negotiation. Republicans made clear they wanted to discard previous proposals and begin the process from scratch.

Where Republicans argue the bill will hurt small businesses, Doggett begs to differ.

"There's not a business with less than 50 employees that's mandated to do much of anything under this bill, but there are incentives to small businesses to help them cover more employees," Doggett said.

According to the bill, employers with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from the requirement that businesses provide health coverage or face an annual $2,000-per-employee fee.

The legislation also stipulates that states must create insurance exchanges by 2014 to allow businesses with up to 100 employees to to choose an affordable health care plan from a "small-business health options program." The self-employed will also be able to partake in the exchanges.

Last, but certainly not least, Doggett addressed the deficit.

"Our deficit is affected in a good way, and more access to health care, especially important in a state that has more uninsured people than any other state in the country," he said.

The CBO estimates that the bill "would produce a net reduction in federal deficits of $138 billion over the 2010–2019 period as result of changes in direct spending and revenue."

The CBO also "anticipates that the reconciliation proposal would probably continue to reduce budget deficits relative to those under current law in subsequent decades, assuming that all of its provisions would continue to be fully implemented.”

However, the CBO grants that a number of provisions in the bill be difficult to sustain over a long time period.