Nancy Pelosi: Congress 'very close' on final health bill

WASHINGTON — The House and Senate are "very close" to finalizing historic legislation revamping the nation's health care system, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday after she and other Democratic leaders met with President Barack Obama at the White House.

Pelosi's optimistic prediction came after days of frantic work by staff members, lawmakers and the president himself to iron out the differences between sweeping bills passed by the House and Senate before Christmas. Obama wants final legislation on his desk in time for his State of the Union address early next month, and Democratic leaders are rushing to deliver despite the numerous discrepancies between the bills.

Obama is taking a more direct role than ever, convening Oval Office meetings Tuesday and Wednesday of House Democratic leaders, who have to compromise the most so that Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., can get a bill through the Senate with his fragile 60-vote majority.

Pelosi, D-Calif., was enthusiastic after emerging from the White House late Wednesday afternoon with the chairs of four key committees.

"We've had a very intense couple of days," Pelosi said. "After our leadership meeting this morning, our staff engaged with the Senate and the administration staff to review the legislation, suggest legislative language. I think we're very close to reconciliation."

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said the House would like to pass a bill by the end of this month.

Under a fast-track process worked out with Obama, lawmakers are bypassing the usual negotiations between the two chambers in the interest of speed, and the House will work off the Senate's version, amend it and send it back to the Senate for final passage.

The bills passed by the House and Senate both would require nearly all Americans to get coverage and would provide subsidies for many who can't afford the cost, but they differ on hundreds of details. Among them are whom to tax, how many people to cover, how to restrict taxpayer funding for abortion and whether illegal immigrants should be allowed to buy coverage in the new markets with their own money.

The House bill tops $1 trillion over 10 years while the Senate bill is cheaper.