Healthcare battle not over

I'll be at work tomorrow when I hear the word Senate passed its version of ObamaCare. But that bill has to be reconciled with the House ObamaCare bill--which may not be easy as the Los Angeles Times tells us:

Negotiators also will have to hammer out disagreements that will determine how quickly the bill takes effect, what taxes will be raised, and other items that reach deeply into every hospital, doctor's office and home medicine cabinet.

Nancy-Ann DeParle, Obama's health advisor, acknowledged that many liberal House Democrats feel they already have compromised too much on the public option. But, she added, she was encouraged by signs that they do not see the matter as nonnegotiable.

Moreover, DeParle said as she shuttled between meetings in the Capitol on Tuesday, some of the conservative Democrats who voted against the House bill have told her that they might be open to the final version of the legislation if it included more cost-containment provisions, as the Senate bill does.

The wrangling could continue into February--past the president's State of the Union address.

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