White House and Dems Try to Merge Multiple Health Bills

WASHINGTON -- Now comes the hard part.

With all five congressional health care bills finally out of committee and with a summer of tempestuous town hall meetings behind them, the White House and top Democrats must merge the different bills into versions that can win a majority in the House and get the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate -- even as the Congressional Budget Office admits it can't confirm whether the legislation will save Americans a dime.

To that end, President Obama is sending his hatchet man, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, to Capitol Hill Wednesday in an effort to close the deal with Democrats who remain divided over the details of the bill.

Emanuel will meet with Senate leaders Wednesday to start merging the Finance Committee bill that was approved Tuesday with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill that was passed earlier this year.

On the other side of the Capitol, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her lieutenants have been at work for weeks trying to blend legislation approved by three House committees. The result is certain to include a government insurance plan, but the details of the "public option" have split the rank and file, and leaders have spent days struggling with the issue.

For now, all eyes are on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has said he wants to complete the wedding quickly and get historic health care overhaul legislation onto the Senate floor by the week of Oct 26.

Others expected to attend Wednesday's meeting are Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn, who shepherded the Health Committee bill, and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who oversaw the Finance Committee bill. - FOX News Story