With Montana Democrat Max Baucus' Senate Finance Committee set to pass its version of the health care reform bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will have to perform a tightrope act to reconcile that legislation with the version passed by the Senate Health, Pensions, and Labor Committee during the summer.  both of the highly divergent bills will have to merge into a single form before being introduced on the Senate floor for debate by the full chamber.

The two pieces of legislation disagree on several fundamental issues, including whether or not to include a so-called "public-option" in which the federal government would offer low-cost health care insurance to increase competition and help force down the overall price of health care.  Consumers would still pay a premium, though it would likely be less than those currently offered by the private care industry.  The Health Committee bill provides for the public option, while the Finance committee bill does not. 

The negotiation will be a politically tricky one for Reid, who will be responsible for setting the final terms of the bill before setting it down on the Senate floor.  Reid will have to keep the bill conservative enough to retain the support of moderate Democrats like Baucus, who opposes a government run health insurance plan, and instead favors open-market insurance exchange programs (also referred to as co-ops) that would aim to offer consumers low-cost health care through private, nonprofit organizations.  However, several Democrats from the party's more liberal bloc have vowed to oppose any legislation that does not inlcude the public option, which is being pushed heavily by the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. 

Losing any Democratic support could be costly.  If Democrats fail to bring even one of their 60 Senate votes into line, the bill would be open to fillibuster by Republicans eager to score a legislative and political victory.  Moreover, it would force Democrats to use the budget reconciliation process that only requires 50 votes to get the reform passed, a move that could be politically unpopular, and one that the White House has indicated that it would like to avoid.

Moreover, Reid will have to keep a close eye on the three Republicans who might possibly break ranks with their party: Main Senator Olympia Snowe, Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi, and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley.  As time has worn on, Enzi and Grassley- both of whom indicated initially that they could support a health care reform bill- have faded away from the negotiation table.  But Snowe has remained closely on board.  Securing her vote would give Democrats the benefit of some semblance of bipartisanship on the bill.