Last week, as Republicans pummeled Mr. Dodd over the cost of his bill, Mr. Baucus huddled with some of those critics, including Mr. Grassley, to develop a bill that Republicans could support.
In an interview Friday, Ms. Ignagni noted that the industry had endorsed many of the administration's proposed changes, including ending the practice of refusing coverage for pre-existing conditions, and said it would work with lawmakers to develop a bill that did not include a public plan.
Last fall, The New York Times reported that law enforcement officials were developing a bill that would impose new regulations on Internet communications companies and phone and broadband carriers, making them easier to wiretap.
"Drafting files" reveal the process of developing a bill or budget provision, and are used regularly by journalists to gain insight into how policy is developed.
Congress could have developed a bill that maintained Medicaid long-term care services for seniors, reduced the cost of premiums and deductibles, expanded coverage and limited the number of uninsured.
"I told the A.M.A. that we've got to develop a bipartisan bill, a bill that is acceptable to senators on both sides of the aisle, and they should make a decision as to what to support," Dr. Frist said.
Motorcoach safety legislation has languished for far too long, which is why we joined with Ms. Claybrook's organization, Public Citizen, to develop a Senate bill and worked with others to support a House bill.
The chairmen, all first elected in the 1970s, have worked together in secret for months to develop a single bill.
Dominic Raab, a civil libertarian MP, was promoted to government after the election to develop a British Bill of Rights to replace the HRA.
House members also wrestled Thursday with a subject that has been a sticking point in both houses of Congress during the months of trying to develop a regulatory bill: what agency would have the authority to liquidate a failing financial company, and how money would be provided for the liquidation.
But lawmakers said there was much they could support in the presentations made at Wednesday's meeting by Mr. Dodd and Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who is leading efforts to develop a compromise bill in the Finance Committee, where he is chairman.
