WASHINGTON — It will take a compromise on a government option for insurance if the Senate is to agree on a health care overhaul before next month's break, two senators said yesterday.

President Obama is pushing for an Aug. 8 deadline for the Senate and House to vote on proposals that would reduce medical costs and provide coverage for the nearly 50 million people who are uninsured. Obama wants to sign a bill by October.

"We'll get this done because we're doing it in a bipartisan way," said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. "If we can reach a compromise, we can get this done by Aug. 8 or at least get it out of committee by Aug. 8."

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also a committee member, said compromise is possible but that senators can't "take things off the table altogether," referring to the Democrats' desire for a government insurance option.

Republicans see a public or government insurance plan as unfair to the private insurance industry. Obama and most fellow Democrats say a government plan would keep costs down and give consumers another option.

Grassley, who appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation," also warned that requiring companies with 25 or more employees to provide insurance or pay a fine — favored by most Democrats — would hurt small businesses and put many of them out of business. But he said the proposal for a government-run insurance program is the greater obstacle.

Schumer, also on "Face the Nation," said that while he supports a public option he also is open to discussing the use of nonprofit insurance cooperatives as competitors to established companies.