The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is hosting a meeting this afternoon to discuss if and how the business community should work together to oppose elements of health care reform legislation, which is rapidly moving along in Congress. The first Senate bill on health care reform dropped this week and more is coming next week.

Among the 30-to-40 groups expected to convene at the Chamber's downtown offices are: the National Federation of Independent Business; the National Retail Federation; the Business Roundtable; and the American Benefits Council. They are expected to convene at 3 p.m. to talk about the state of play on Capitol Hill and where the battle lines should be drawn, if needed.

Up to now, the business community has been fairly mute about its mounting concerns over health care legislation, as many on K Street wanted to see what legislation congressional Democrats would champion. Further, health care costs have been taking a huge toll on businesses and many wanted to be cooperative with lawmakers. Now that legislation is dropping, business groups have decided they need to gather and discuss their next steps.

"We invited a wide swatch of the business community to share their concerns about the pending legislation and to figure out a strategy going forward," said Randy Johnson a vice president at the Chamber. Johnson said that whether decisions are made about launching an ad drive will "depend on the depths of concerns that we see at the meeting," 

Another person said of the meeting: "We're not blowing anything up yet, but we're making sure that we have the troops ready if we do have to oppose one or more bills and key provisions. At this stage, we still want to salvage health care reform, just not at any cost."

Opposition is developing most strongly around the issue of a public plan option - meaning a bill that includes a publicly paid-for and operated health insurance plan to compete with private insurers and managed care companies.

Given that it is Friday afternoon and the first sunny day in awhile in Washington, the level of attendance at the meeting will signal just how anxious the business community is about the health care debate, said Jade West, senior vice president of government relations at the National Association of Wholesaler Distributors.

Readers stay tuned.