With Democrats in the House and Senate reportedly opting for the ping-pong method of combining bills rather than the more formalized conference process, Republicans are left with few if any opportunities to halt progress on or even kill comprehensive health care reform. GOP hopes of stopping it now mostly rest on Democrats' intraparty differences, however party leadership is adamant that Republicans are not giving up and that Democrats' day of reckoning will come soon.

"There is much not to like here. I haven't given up on stopping it," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday on Dennis Miller's radio show. "I think we've got another month or so to fight this out and we're going to fight it 'til the bitter end."

McConnell and other Republicans argue that despite the potential for no conference, Democrats in the two chambers remain far apart on a number of issues, such as the inclusion of the public option, stricter abortion language and how to pay for it. The GOP will also begin attacking the process, as the lack of a conference removes Republicans from the negotiating table and allows the bill to move forward faster.

The backroom negotiations are a sticking point with the GOP, which last year routinely complained about being left out of the legislative process, despite promises from President Obama that he was open to their ideas.

Despite media reports, House Democratic leaders have yet to confirm that no formal conference committee will be held. One House leadership aide maintains that whatever form the negotiations take, it will not simply be the House considering the Senate bill -- the less progressive of the two and which barely passed last month on a party-line vote.

Discussions among Democratic leaders and committee chairmen on the House side are set to begin today, as well as a full caucus meeting Thursday, as they set their priorities for the negotiations. The Senate won't return for another two weeks.

Republicans, though, are still calling for the health care negotiations to be televised on C-SPAN, as Obama promised during his campaign. The president has instead left negotiations for the most part in the hands of party leaders in Congress, who appear more eager to pass a bill than allow further bipartisan discussions that could continue to slow the process.

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) offered a resolution that would require the health care reform conference to be televised, though action on that bill was blocked by Democrats.

"Something as critical as the Democrats' health care bill, with its Medicare cuts and tax hikes, shouldn't be slapped together in a shady backroom deal," Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), told RealClearPolitics. "Skipping a real, open conference shuts out the American people and breaks one of President Obama's signature campaign promises. It would be a disgrace -- to the Democratic leaders if they do it, and to every Democratic Member who lets them."

Should the compromised bill pass both chambers, Republicans are expected to attempt to repeal it. However, with Obama in the White House and strong Democratic majorities in Congress, the tact will likely make more waves on the midterm election campaign trails than have any real chance of working.

As for the political ramifications of passing health care, GOP critics point to Nebraska as an example of the dangers to Democrats' electoral health -- a state whose Democratic senator's re-election prospects already look perilous because of his support for the bill, three years before he must face voters.

A poll last week found Sen. Ben Nelson trailing Republican Gov. Dave Heineman by 31 points, with 55 percent holding an unfavorable opinion of him. A day after the poll's release, Nelson aired a TV ad during the Nebraska-Arizona college football bowl game to defend his health care vote.

"This will be one of several, if not the biggest issue in the fall election and you've seen what it's already done to the credibility and career of one senator from Nebraska, and I think there will be others," McConnell said on "The Dennis Miller Show." "He's not up in '10, but this is one of those votes that's going to be remembered for a long time."