Senate Finance Committee Democrats rebuffed Republican efforts Wednesday to delay a vote on a health care overhaul and to gut major provisions of the legislation.

The votes came as House Democratic leaders said they will meld three separate versions of their health care overhaul into a single bill by next week — even though the House won’t take it up that soon.

In the Finance Committee, Sen. Jim Bunning , R-Ky., sought to delay a vote to approve the measure until three days after it is reduced to legislative language and the Congressional Budget Office issues a final estimate of its cost.

The Finance Committee traditionally does not debate or vote on actual legislative language, instead working from detailed, plain-English descriptions of its bills. Democrats defended that practice, saying it made the legislation more understandable to committee members and the public alike.

“This is not a normal bill for us or for the American people,” Bunning said.

His amendment gained steam when Sen. Olympia J. Snowe , R-Maine, said she wanted it adopted. Snowe is the only panel Republican likely to vote for the bill, and Democrats desperately want her support.

“I want to know what the final numbers are on any bill I vote on in this committee, and we should know it every step of the way,” Snowe said.

But Democratic committee aides said Snowe — and most other Republicans on the committee — have previously voted on major legislation without having legislative language or a final CBO estimate in hand, including the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill and the 2001 and 2003 Bush-era tax cuts.

Bunning’s amendment fell on an 11-12 vote; one Democrat, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, supported it.

The committee then adopted an alternative amendment by Finance Chairman Max Baucus , D-Mont., that would delay the committee’s vote on the bill until members have a complete plain-English description of the measure and a preliminary CBO estimate of its cost.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., indicated Democrats in her chamber want to see what the Senate committee does before the House acts.

She added, “Because of the pace the Senate has, there’s no urgency for us to get it to the floor next week. We can take the time to see what they’re doing and have the benefit of their thinking on the legislation,” Pelosi said.