Enlarge By Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images Senate Democatic leaders Sen. Patty Murray, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, Senate Majority Whip Sen. Richard Durbin, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Charles Schumer and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd make brief statements after an evening caucus meeting at the U.S. Captiol on Monday in Washington, DC. HEALTH UPDATES ON TWITTER HEALTH UPDATES ON TWITTER

WASHINGTON  Senate Democrats said Monday they are prepared to drop a proposal to let people under 65 buy into the Medicare program if that's what it takes to pass President Obama 's health care initiative.

Emerging from an evening meeting of Democrats who are increasingly at odds over key provisions, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said it is "looking like" the new Medicare proposal will be removed from the bill.

Talk of dropping the Medicare idea — which would have let people between 55 and 64 buy into the program — underscores the lengths Democratic leaders are going in their quest to hold their 60-member caucus together to pass some form of legislation by the end of the year.

Originally proposed as an alternative to a new government-run insurance program, the idea met with resistance from centrists, including Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., who has argued it could harm the underlying Medicare program. He told CBS' Face the Nationon Sunday that he would have a "hard time" voting for the Medicare idea.

HIDDEN NUGGETS: Supporters add provisions to health bills

"Put me down ... as encouraged about the direction" of the talks, Lieberman said after Monday's meeting.

Democratic leaders are trying to reach consensus in their caucus to rustle up the 60 votes to bring the bill to the floor for a vote by Christmas. Obama is set to meet Tuesday with Democrats at the White House — the second such meeting this month.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada declined to answer questions about the details of the behind-the-scenes talks on the bill but said he is confident the Senate would soon pass the bill, which the Congressional Budget Office says would cost $848 billion in the first 10 years.

"Democrats aren't going to let the American people down," Reid said.

Concrete details of the Medicare buy-in idea were never revealed, but the outlines emerged last week as part of an agreement struck by liberal and moderate Democrats wrestling with a controversial proposal to create a government-run insurance plan.

Overall, supporters say the legislation would provide coverage to 31 million Americans who wouldn't otherwise have it in 2019. The bill would require all Americans to have health insurance and would provide subsidies to help low-income families pay for premiums.

Although Democrats have largely agreed on those provisions, they have faced internal divisions over the idea of a government-run insurance program. They have also wrestled with how far the bill should go in prohibiting coverage of abortions for those who receive federal subsidies to help pay for insurance.

The House passed its version of the health care bill last month.

Debate over the Senate legislation, meanwhile, stalled over an amendment offered by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that would allow for the importation of less expensive prescription drugs from Canada and elsewhere. Obama supported the idea as a senator, but the pharmaceutical industry is opposed.

Republicans such as Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who supports the amendment, say the White House and Senate Democrats don't want the measure to pass because it could disrupt an earlier agreement that importation would not be allowed as long as the industry didn't lobby against the underlying bill.

A vote on the amendment is scheduled for Tuesday.