July 13 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama will meet today with top U.S. lawmakers to discuss plans to overhaul the nation’s health-care system, with Obama vowing to overcome opposition and “make this thing happen.”

The meeting with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the White House, said a Democratic congressional aide, who asked not to be identified.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, also will attend, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today.

Obama said that while the administration and Congress are closer “than we’ve ever been” to completing health-care legislation, he is “under no illusion” about what will be needed to finish the package.

“For those naysayers and cynics who think that this is not going to happen, don’t bet against us,” Obama said at the White House before announcing his appointment of rural health-care specialist Regina Benjamin as U.S. surgeon general. “We are going to make this thing happen because the American people desperately need it.”

Senator Kent Conrad said Friday that while members of both parties are making progress, Democrats probably won’t reach Obama’s goal of getting the bill through the full Senate before Congress’s month-long August recess.

Baucus Under Pressure

The Finance Committee will approve the overhaul plan by early August, Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat and member of the panel, predicted in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt.”

Panel Chairman Baucus is under pressure from other Democrats to curb his efforts to reach out to Republicans and drop plans to tax the most-expensive employer-provided health plans, a levy opposed by Democratic-leaning labor unions.

House leaders, who were planning to unveil legislation today that will include a surtax on the wealthiest Americans, were forced to delay a draft bill last week that drew fire from the White House and dozens of their own members.

Lawmakers have said the president must get more involved in drafting a measure to reduce health-care costs and expand coverage to the nation’s estimated 46 million uninsured.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington, at llitvan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 13, 2009 14:22 EDT