The House Energy and Commerce Committee is getting back to work on the health reform bill after some Democrats in the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition struck a deal with the leaders of their party to pass a health reform bill in the last remaining House committee that hasn't done so.

Four of the seven Blue Dogs in the House Energy and Commerce Committee have agreed to a compromise. The panel was scheduled to return to work by 10 a.m. on July 30 to finish the markup of H.R. 3200 -- the bill that has already passed two other House committees and one of two Senate committees. In the other remaining Senate committee -- the Finance Committee -- negotiations are ongoing between Democrats and Republicans to produce what may be the only bipartisan health bill among the five current versions in Congress.

The changes brokered by the Blue Dogs would reduce the overall cost of the bill by about $100 billion over 10 years, they said. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., who has led the Blue Dog effort on this issue, called it "a significant breakthrough in this health care reform debate." The deal included a reduction in the requirement for small businesses to insure employees; that the government-run insurer wouldn't be forced on anyone; better reimbursement for rural hospitals and a general slow-down of the process to ensure that lawmakers will have the full August recess to review proposals in the bill.

And in the other chamber, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, said in a transcripted interview with Iowa reporters that bipartisan negotiations are moving along. "We're going to have another five or six weeks for people to take a look at it, and maybe even longer than that, because nothing's going to pass the House or Senate before September," he said, but he indicated that as much as 95% of the issues are worked out. However, he added, "the 5% that are left are very difficult, and I can't say that we're on the edge of getting them decided, but we're making some progress by inches."


Grassley predicted that a bill wouldn't be able to come out of the committee by the weekend but didn't rule out next week, the last week the Senate will be in session before the month-long recess.

In public speaking, the president continued selling his preference for establishing a government-run insurer.

"I think one of the choices you should be able to chose from is called the public option," Obama told an audience in Virginia. He said the idea can keep insurance companies honest. "If the insurance companies started jacking up the rates real high, you could go into the public option. ... I think that's a good idea. Some people don't agree with me on this."

The House is scheduled to quit work at the end of the week to start its month-long August recess. Democratic leaders have said they hope to see both the House and Senate committees pass their bills before the break, allowing the full Congress to weigh in when it returns in September.

"Whenever it passes, there's so much that is going to be phased in over a long period of time that if there's things about this that there's great public reaction to, there will be plenty of opportunity for Congress to change it," Grassley said.

(Jesse A. Hamilton, Washington bureau manager: Jesse.Hamilton@ambest.com)