Washington ( CNN ) -- President Obama called Thursday for high-level talks with Republicans to work out a compromise on health care legislation , then putting the resulting bill to a vote in Congress . `` If Congress decides we 're not going to do it , even after all the facts are laid out , after all the options are clear , then the American people can make a judgment as to whether this Congress has done the right thing for them or not , '' Obama said . `` That 's how democracy works . '' Obama 's comments were the first clear signal from the White House or Democrats in Congress on how they would proceed on a top legislative priority after losing their 60-seat super-majority in the Senate . Republican Scott Brown was sworn in as the new U.S. senator from Massachusetts earlier Thursday , leaving the Democrats one vote shy of being able to overcome GOP filibusters of health care reform and other major initiatives . Asked at a party fund-raising event about the Democratic strategy for health care reform going forward , Obama said Democratic leaders in the House and Senate were working out differences in the separate health care bills passed by each chamber last year . Once that was finished , Obama said , the next step would be `` to call on our Republican friends to present their ideas . '' `` What I 'd like to do is to have a meeting whereby I 'm sitting with the Republicans , sitting with the Democrats , sitting with health care experts , and let 's just go through these bills -- their ideas , our ideas -- and walk through them and in a methodical way so that the American people can see and compare , '' Obama said . `` And then I think we 've got to go ahead and move forward on a vote , '' he added . `` We 've got to move forward on a vote . '' A White House official acknowledged later Thursday that this was new language from Obama to offer a possible scenario for health care talks to move forward . However , the official stressed it was `` not a new strategy '' for the White House to coalesce behind , and aides were still mulling various options to complete action on health care legislation . Democrat leaders in Congress have struggled to come up with a consensus strategy since the party lost its super-majority in the Senate . Republicans have unanimously opposed the health care bills so far , meaning Democrats would be unable to pass a bill through the Senate because of a certain GOP filibuster . Brown , now the 41st Republican senator to give the GOP its unstoppable filibuster ability , said Thursday after his swearing-in that Congress should start over on the health care issue instead of continuing to work on existing proposals . Republicans complain the comprehensive Democratic health care bills would lead to a government takeover of health care . They call for smaller steps focused on individual issues , such as limiting medical malpractice lawsuits . Democrats , however , say that spiraling health care costs that threaten the nation 's future economic stability can only be addressed through comprehensive reform . Obama said Thursday the Democratic bill that will emerge from the House-Senate talks on joining their two proposals would expand coverage to at least 30 million Americans who lack health insurance while reducing long-term health care costs . The measure would include an insurance exchange to allow people and small business owners to pool together to purchase coverage , Obama said , but he made no mention of a government-run public health insurance option that Republicans have rallied against . Obama said the Democratic bill would include reforms that prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing medical conditions or capping lifetime benefits . `` And by the way , all of it is paid for , '' Obama said . `` Not only is it deficit-neutral , but the Congressional Budget Office , which is the bipartisan office that is the scorekeeper for much things cost in Congress , says it is going to reduce the costs by $ 1 trillion . '' Obama called health care reform the `` single best way to bring down our deficits , '' adding `` nobody has disputed that . '' `` Nobody can dispute the fact that if we do n't tackle surging health care costs , then we ca n't control our budget , '' he said . While Democrats from both chambers have been working together to merge their two bills , alternative strategies also have been discussed . House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this week that the chamber would vote next week on one provision of its health care bill , which would drop the current anti-trust exemption for the insurance industry that allows practices such as market allocation . The Senate bill would maintain the anti-trust exemption , so it was unclear whether the House 's limited first step would win approval there . However , Democratic aides have said that House Democrats want to keep momentum on health care going in coming weeks . CNN 's Ed Henry contributed to this story .
Obama : Democrats leaders in House , Senate working out differences in two bills . After that , president wants Republicans to present their ideas . It 's 41st clear signal from Democrats how they want to proceed after House seat loss . Sen. Ed Henry of Massachusetts gives GOP 41 senators , enough to filibuster Senate bill .