As more than 900 benefits brokers descend on Capitol Hill today for meetings with lawmakers and their staff, they do so amidst talk that the health care reform process is breaking down.

On the Sunday talk show circuit Senate Democrats admitted the timetable has slowed. President Barack Obama originally called for legislation to pass by August. “Well, we don't expect it to be signed into law by the August recess," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “But we expect the House and Senate to have passed bills, yes.”

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s legislation has been in markup since June 17 and the Finance Committee has yet to release its bill. As of press time, the House was scheduled to release legislation Tuesday afternoon. “It is our plan to introduce our legislation tomorrow,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Monday.  “It won't be the finished product. It is a mark that is to be marked up in committee to go to the next step. But in order for us to be on schedule, we have to roll out our legislation this week.”

In a letter to Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer late last week, 50 members of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition addressed concerns about the estimated $1 trillion price tag of a tri-committee health reform draft in the House. In the letter, the members stated “strong reservations about the process and direction” of legislation, Reuters reports.

The Blue Dogs’ doubts come at a good time for brokers hoping to leave an impression on influential staff and lawmakers today. “Having the benefits brokers talk to Congress is going to be very impactful this week,” particularly in time with the release of House legislation, says Bill Sweetnam, principal with the Groom Law Group. “…These brokers talk to ordinary people a lot about health care and health insurance. They could tell Congress about how ordinary people will react to health care reform. I think that Blue Dog Democrats are worried enough about public reaction to the various pieces of health care reform that they would welcome the input of people in the know -- like brokers.”

Diane Boyle, executive vice president of the Association of Health Insurance Advisors, says “a little nervousness is good,” noting that this is the time for brokers to explain the consequences of health reform options that could unintentionally harm our health care system.

The Fly-In, co-sponsored by AHIA, National Association of Health Underwriters, Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers and Independent Agents & Brokers of America, “could not come at a better time” says IIABA senior vice president of government affairs Charles Symington. Joel Wood, senior vice president of government affairs for CIAB, agrees, calling the timing “excellent.”

“Having all this tension playing out between the House and the Senate, between moderates and liberals in both chambers, could relieve some of the harsh edges to the debate that we think greatly threatens the employer-provided group health insurance marketplace,” Wood says.  “That said, we continue to believe that the government-run plan as envisioned in the House tri-committees and Senate HELP Committee would do more violence to American health care than good, and the anxiety among our members for their clients is high. Hopefully we can move the dial a bit in the hundreds of meetings that will occur in the next day and a half.”