Health Care Reform's Final Sticking Point: How to Pay for It

Having shepherded the mammoth U.S. health care insurance reform bill through the most contentious and partisan legislative battleground in recent memory, House and Senate Democrats aren't about to let it get waylaid by procedure now. So, they'll likely bypass the traditional House-Senate conference for reconciling legislation and instead hold informal talks through most of January to work out the differences between the two bodies' bills. A more formal conference would include both Democratic and Republican representatives, but because the bills have primarily been passed along strictly party lines, it's safe to assume the final negotiations will be done that way, too.