After a call from President Barack Obama to move health reform forward, Democratic leaders are adding fuel to the fire, saying that order can only be fulfilled through budget reconciliation.

Nancy Pelosi

Speaking after a Democratic Caucus meeting March 11 with Nancy-Ann DParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, to review the president’s reform proposal, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said a final piece of legislation is not complete, “but have a pretty good idea of where we are going on it.

“We will have at least one week to have our own conversations about — at least — it may take longer and we will take up the bill when we’re ready to take up the bill,” she said.

Leaders in the House and Senate are working on amendments to the Senate’s comprehensive health bill, finding common ground between the two bills that Pelosi says look to achieve the same goals. She said “75% of the House and Senate bills are similar” and “we will not be addressing just the changes.”

Those changes, according to Pelosi, include affordability to the middle class and accountability of insurance companies, both areas she said “we believe the House bill was better.”

The House speaker added that nothing can progress without the projected fiscal impact statement from the Congressional Budget Office, adding, “I don’t think it will be too long before we will have that information.” Pelosi added that Democrats also were briefed by the House Rules Committee regarding a reconciliation bill, a procedural effort to eliminate the divide between parties in reconciling their two bills and enact some changes in America’s health care system.

“Reconciliation is a very narrow discipline,” she said. “And that was emphasized to the members this morning.  Unless a provision is central to the budget, it cannot be considered.  And again, we have to abide by our parliamentarian, and the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate parliamentarian, the Byrd Rule, all of this was discussed.”

‘We will finish the job’

While Pelosi was discussing Democratic strategy, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was giving Republicans a harsher message, letting them know that reconciliation is likely the only option at this point.

In a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), Reid scolded Republicans for “distorting the facts in health care debate and inflicting delay after needless delay,” as Americans go without a solution. He repeated his party’s stance that there is no going back on health care reform and no starting over from the beginning.

“Many Republicans now are demanding that we simply ignore the progress we’ve made, the extensive debate and negotiations we’ve held, the amendments we’ve added (including more than 100 from Republicans) and the votes of a supermajority in favor of a bill whose contents the American people unambiguously support,” Reid wrote in the letter. “We will not.  We will finish the job.”

Reminding McConnell that “the vast majority of bills” developed through reconciliation were passed by Republican Congresses and signed into law by Republican Presidents and that it will still come down to a majority vote.

“Keep in mind that reconciliation will not exclude Republicans from the legislative process,” he said. “You will continue to have an opportunity to offer amendments and change the shape of the legislation.  In addition, at the end of the process, the bill can pass only if it wins a democratic, up-or-down majority vote.  If Republicans want to vote against a bill that reduces health care costs, fills the prescription drug “donut hole” for seniors and reduces the deficit, you will have every right to do so.”