Reports suggest that conservative Democratic legislators on Rep. Henry Waxman's House Energy and Commerce Committee may have reached a deal on a health care reform plan that would preserve President Obama's marquee provision- a "public option" that would allow consumers to buy into a government-run healthcare policy.

Four members of the conservative-leaning "Blue Dog" coalition of Democratic legislators indicated that they'd be willing to support the bill now taking shape on Capitol Hill.  Under the compromise plan, states would be able to create health co-operatives that would compete with private insurers.  It would also retain the public option, which earlier this week had looked as though it might be dropped from the final draft of the bill.  The legislation would also take steps toward reducing the ability of private insurers to unilaterally deny coverage to all applicants, and charging higher premium fees for patients with "preexisting conditions."

One key concession by Democrats pushing hard for reform: a full floor vote on the bill likely wouldn't take place until after the August recess.  Conservative Democrats expressed concern that Congress wouldn''t have enough time to review the bill in its entirety and sell it to their constituents before voting on it.  The White House had hoped to have health care reform legislation passed by the end of summer.

A committee vote on the bill will likely be scheduled for the end of this week.

I understand the need to rush to pass a bill for health care reform b/c the longer they wait is the less chance of it passing; however, wouldn't it be better to read the bill first before passing it? They looked mighty stupid after passing the stimulus bill w/o reading it first. The taxpayers money is going to waste on these lazy lawmakers. All they do is fund raise. When are they going to earn their keep? They look foolish going in public arguing points w/o knowing the details; for example, a few Republicans were on a rampage arguing that Obama was trying to kill off the elderly with the new health care bill. It turns out that on page 425, of the bill, there is a clause that proposes a living will, which is optional. They blew it out of proportion and distorted it, and some people were actually buying into it. The Republican party is famous for running dirty campaigns and using disruptions of sorts to distract the American people. One would wonder why the country was in turmoil. It was that insidious behavior that got the country in this mess that Obama is trying his best to fix.