Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid insists that he and his colleagues refuse to be “bound by any timelines” on health care legislation. But House passage of its overhaul bill this weekend has created momentum for — and pressure on — the Nevada Democrat to push forward on a Senate version by year’s end.

Reid already is getting nudged from the White House to speed up. He and other senior Democrats met last week with Rahm Emanuel , President Obama’s chief of staff, to discuss finishing the overhaul this year, aides said.

Just after the House vote at 11 p.m. on Nov. 7, Obama released a statement urging the Senate to act. He repeated that message Sunday, telling reporters: “Now it falls on the United States Senate to take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people. And I’m absolutely confident that they will.”

However, the Senate has been in a holding pattern on its overhaul, with Reid and other Democrats saying Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates have been the biggest holdup. Reid has not released the Democrats’ bill, which will combine measures produced by the Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Reid sent legislative language, along with several policy options, to CBO on Oct. 26. According to his spokeswoman, those cost estimates have not been returned, holding up Reid’s ability to release the full bill.

Other Democrats also cited CBO scoring as the reason for delay. “Are we going to finish by the end of the year? I’m going to have to answer a question with a question, as any good politician: How soon will CBO get finished? . . . Our fate is in their hands,” Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin , D-Ill., said last week.

Even with the absence of CBO scores, Senate Democrats are still working to get the 60 votes they will need to move past a cloture vote on their bill. To that end, Reid and Durbin are likely to spend this week meeting with their colleagues.