. . . "The Senate remains very unlikely to pass any bill containing an unbridled public plan that potentially could ultimately threaten significant price deflation for U.S. sales," said Morgan Stanley pharmaceutical analyst Andrew Baum.

. . . With the House bill out of the way, attention has shifted to the Senate and whether Democrats can stay united and make good on President Barack Obama's pledge to overhaul the nation's $2.5 trillion health care system and expand coverage.

Angela Braly, chief executive of insurer Wellpoint Inc., said the House had been widely expected to pass a bill with a public plan option, but she now sees a battle ahead in the Senate.

"I do think there is an expectation that the process in the Senate will be a fulsome one and there will be a great discussion about the true impact of these reforms," she told the Reuters Health Summit in New York.

. . . President Obama wants health reform to pass this year, and Democrats are counting on a legislative victory to help them stave off Republicans in the 2010 midterm elections. Democrats currently control both houses of Congress.

But a growing number of analysts see cracks that could push any final measure until early next year, possibly as far as February or March.

The rest of the story . . . .