More Closed Door Out of the Public Meetings on Health Care

Democratic lawmakers say they are close to a final deal on a health care bill, but serious questions remain as to whether the final legislation can be passed by President Obama's deadline of March 18, when he departs for Indonesia and Australia.

The president was on the road this week selling his health care proposal in Glendale, Pa., on Tuesday and St. Charles, Mo., on Wednesday.

House and Senate Democrats continue to negotiate intensely on writing a compromise bill, the drafting of which in committee could happen as soon as Friday. But some Democrats are pushing back hard on the president's deadline, even as White House officials insist that imposing a deadline is the only way to get Congress to act. The Congressional Budget Office is also slated to release its cost assessment of the White House health care bill any day, which could alter the dynamics.

Late Wednesday night, Democrats emerged from a closed door meeting and said they were close to an agreement on a compromise bill that could pass both the House and the Senate. - ABC News Story