Democrats close in on healthcare agreement

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats neared a deal on a landmark U.S. healthcare overhaul on Friday, with President Barack Obama pushing for quick action before a special Senate election that threatens the bill''s future.

Negotiators from the House of Representatives and Senate reported fresh progress after meeting at the White House for the third straight day and said they were about to send the bill''s major provisions to budget analysts for cost estimates.

"We did well today. We agreed on some things," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid told reporters after the three-hour meeting. He provided no details.

A White House spokesman said in a statement that negotiators worked through a number of issues and would seek a cost estimate on a number of proposals. Negotiators reached no final agreement on an overall package.

"The next step in the process is to evaluate the costs and savings associated with the various proposals for each tenet of the legislation," the statement said.

The talks followed an earlier marathon session that stretched from Thursday night into the early hours of Friday. Obama stayed in that meeting until about 1 a.m. EST. Staff members will continue negotiating over the weekend.

The talks have gained new urgency as polls show the overhaul is increasingly unpopular and Democrats could lose next week''s special Massachusetts election to replace the late Senator Edward Kennedy -- costing them their crucial 60th Senate vote and throwing the bill''s fate into uncertainty.

Democrats are hustling to finish the bill before Obama''s State of the Union speech in early February, when lawmakers hope to turn to an agenda on jobs and the economy ahead of congressional elections in November.

Negotiators expect to focus next week on working out hot-button issues like coverage for abortions and illegal immigrants, House members said.

"We are establishing common ground on some of the very few issues that were different in our bills," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of the talks, which also have included key committee chairmen in each chamber.

Democrats scored a breakthrough on Thursday, winning labor support for a revised tax on high-cost insurance plans that was included in the Senate bill but opposed by unions and many House Democrats.

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