Senate Democrats who attended a special White House meeting with President Barack Obama say the discussion centered on controlling healthcare reform plan costs.

The president followed his speech to a joint session of Congress this week by inviting 17 Democratic senators, most of them centrists, to meet with him at the White House Thursday, The New York Times reports.

Participants in the session described it as overwhelmingly positive.

Several left saying they were optimistic they could eventually support the healthcare bill.

"Our challenge is to produce a bill as good as the speech," said Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana.

The White House says the president will continue to press the healthcare issue, including a rally in Minnesota Saturday and an interview on "60 Minutes" to be broadcast Sunday.