The first of what will be many, many procedural hurdles Democrats will have to overcome en route to passing a bill of “fixes” to Obamacare via reconciliation:

Senior House and Senate aides met with the parliamentarian’s office this week and were told that Senate rules would not allow Senate Democrats to send the House reconciliation bill straight to the floor, according to a source familiar with the discussion. Having to take the bill through the committee process would complicate the Democratic push to finish the bill by Easter. The meeting also raised questions about whether the rules allowed several provisions to be included in the bill, but Democrats won’t receive firm guidance on what would be allowed until the Congressional Budget Office provides a cost estimate on the bill.
“They’re losing time quickly here,” the source said, adding that vote counting is stalled.
A Democratic aide familiar with the meeting said participants talked about whether the House bill could go straight to the Senate floor and are working on those concerns.
“Both bodies will work out the differences,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said. “How do we get this? How do we do it? Get to this potential mistrust? We’ll get it done. We’ll get it passed.”