House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Tuesday that Democratic leaders want to bring their massive health care overhaul legislation to the floor next week, if they can line up a majority behind a single “public option” proposal.

Hoyer said party leaders were continuing their discussions and their whip counts to see if a government-run plan linked to Medicare payment rates for health care providers — or one based on negotiated rates — can get the 218 votes needed for passage. Democrats planned a midday caucus to discuss the bill.

“A bill is possible this week,” Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters. “That would be our objective, as we want to consider it next week.”

Hoyer has repeatedly pledged to Republicans that the health bill and any manager’s amendment would be posted online for at least 72 hours before the House votes, and he said again Tuesday he will keep that promise.

Hoyer praised Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., for including a form of public option in the bill he plans to bring to the Senate floor. Some House Democrats have expressed reservations about voting for a health bill that includes a public option if the Senate was never going to consider a government-backed insurance plan that would compete with private insurers. They feared that Republicans would turn such a vote into an issue in 2010, saying that Democrats voted to turn the health care system into a government-run operation and that the Senate wouldn’t even consider such an extreme scheme.

But with Reid’s decision to seek floor consideration of a bill that includes a public plan but would allow states to opt out, those anxieties have eased, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn , D-S.C., said.

The relief could prove short-lived, however. Reid has acknowledged he is not sure whether he can persuade his entire 60-member caucus to unite long enough to bring a health bill to the Senate floor for amendment and debate. It takes 60 votes to break a filibuster, and Democrats can’t count on a single Republican vote to launch consideration of a bill that includes any type of public option.