The House of Representatives may consider a tax on high-end insurance policies after all.

The Senate Finance Committee is considering a proposal to impose a 40 percent excise tax on most policies costing more than $8,000 per individual and $21,000 per family, to help pay for its health care overhaul.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday she would not rule out such a tax.

"We just have to see how much money we need for what," she said. "If we're taking the bill down in cost, there are other provisions in the Senate bill that bend the curve that might be more palatable. We'll see."

The House bill would impose income tax surcharges on the wealthy. Many senators have balked at that idea, proposing instead the insurance tax.

The Senate Finance Committee is to resume consideration  of the legislation Tuesday, with the hope of finishing its work next week. Its version of health care would then be combined with a bill written this summer by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and the full Senate would then consider the legislation.

In the House, three committees have written bills, and they will be combined into one soon.

Eventually, if the House and Senate pass different versions, a negotiating, or conference, committee would combine them into one_which is why Pelosi's openness to the insurance tax idea Friday seemed to indicate a willingness to find common ground on one of the health care effort's most vexing issues..