Senate Health Care Update

EDITED TO ADD: White House confirms that Pres. Obama will go to Capitol Hill tomorrow to meet with caucus Democrats in a rare Sunday legislative session. This is this weekend's surprise. They are pushing ahead with this thing AS HARD AS THEY CAN! According to Politico's Carol Lee.

Every day this legislation is delayed right now is crucial. There are only 14 working days between the Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks, so whatever causes this issue to be unresolved when congress goes home for the long winter break will be a good thing. People need time to contact their legislators again and tell them specifically which provisions are NOT welcome.

WASHINGTON -- Fence-sitting senators in both parties are stepping up efforts to reshape health-overhaul legislation, including a push Friday by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent, for more aggressive steps to rein in the rapid growth of health-care costs.

The efforts haven't yet produced consensus for the bill. But they suggested the accommodations Democratic leaders will likely need to make with hesitant lawmakers to get the overhaul bill through the Senate.

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Sens. Joe Lieberman, left, Susan Collins and Arlen Specter discuss bipartisan health-care proposals Friday.

Voicing concern that "too much of the debate has been divided along partisan lines," Sen. Lieberman joined with Sens. Susan Collins (R., Maine) and Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) to unveil proposals designed to contain consumer and business health costs. Among them were measures to streamline billing for care and penalize hospitals for spreading "avoidable" infections.

"We can and must do more," said Sen. Lieberman. He caucuses with Democrats but has so far withheld his support for final passage of the legislation -- in part because he opposes a government-run insurance plan.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R., Maine) is working with Democrats on a plan to boost competition among insurers in a new insurance marketplace. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.) is working on a proposal to bolster the Medicare trust fund with revenue raised from a proposal to limit the tax deductibility of compensation paid to insurance executives.

More at Wall Street Journal.