Coverage on President Obama's push for health care reform continues in all major media outlets.  In a speech on March 3, the president  urged lawmakers to bring the matter to a vote before the end of the month.    From The New York Times:

President Obama, beginning his final push for a health care overhaul, called Wednesday for Congress to allow an "up or down vote" on the measure, and sketched out an ambitious -- and, some Democrats said, unrealistic -- timetable for his party to pass a bill on its own within weeks.

States Congress owes the American people a final vote on health care reform," Mr. Obama said during a 20-minute speech in the East Room of the White House. He said there was no point in starting over, as Republicans are demanding, and called on nervous Democrats to stick with him, declaring there was no reason "for those of us who were sent here to lead to just walk away."

The speech, less than a week after Mr. Obama held a high-profile televised health care forum, will usher in what White House officials say will be their last campaign to bring Washington's long and contentious health care debate to a close -- with a bill-signing ceremony at the end.

Read the full story here.

Related coverage:

Obama Health Care Speech:  It's Time to Act Now; The Huffington Post - March 4, 2010

 Health Reform's Reconciliation Ref - Alan Frumin; Time - March 3, 2010

Democrats Chase Health Care Votes; The Wall Street Journal - March 3, 2010

Nelson Defends Senate Health Bill, Signals Strong Backing for Reform; The Hill - March 3, 2010

Democrats Eye Health Care Finish; Roll Call - March 3, 2010

Political Punch; ABC News - March 2, 2010

Obama To Push Health Care Overhaul Into Final Act; Reuters - March 3, 2010

Democrats are moving forward on health care reform, even if it may cost some of them their congressional careers.  From The New York Times:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is confident she will be able to get the votes needed to pass sweeping health care legislation in the House, even if it threatens the political careers of some members of her party.

In an interview carried Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Ms. Pelosi said she was working on changes to a Senate-passed bill that would make it acceptable to the House.

Among the criticisms of health care reform offered by Republicans, Tea Partiers, and others is that it is simply too costly.  But what is the cost of doing nothing?

"People think if we do nothing, we will have what we have now," said Karen Davis, the president of the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit health care research group in New York. "In fact, what we will have is a substantial deterioration in what we have."

Nearly every mainstream analysis calls for medical costs to continue to climb over the next decade, outpacing the growth in the overall economy and certainly increasing faster than the average paycheck. Those higher costs will translate into higher premiums, which will mean fewer individuals and businesses will be able to afford insurance coverage. More of everyone's dollar will go to health care, and government programs like Medicare and Medicaid will struggle to find the money to operate.

Coverage of the aftermath of the Health Care Summit is extensive, with most media outlets reporting that Democrats plan to move forward with the Obama plan with or without the help of Republicans but that it remains uncertain whether the necessary votes will materialize:

Obama, Democrats Ponder Next Health Care Moves; Reuters - February 26, 2010        

Now the White House and congressional Democrats are in the difficult position of deciding whether to force a reform of the $2.5 trillion U.S. health care system through Congress with a simple majority vote - a maneuver Republicans have condemned.

Obama Bipartisan Health Summit Clears Path to Party-Line Vote; The Bloomberg Report - February 26, 2010

President Obama began yesterday's health care summit saying he wanted to find bipartisan ways to fix the health care system. By the end of the health care summit, President Obama will pursue a partisan plan costing about $950 billion over 10 years and covering 31 million uninsured Americans.

After Summit Flop, Democrats Prepare to Go It Alone on Obamacare; The Washington Examiner - February 26, 2010

With no signs of compromise from either side in President Obama's health summit, Democrats prepared a final partisan push for their massive health care plan.

The Aftermath of the Health Care Summit:  Confusion, Conflict; Politico - February 26, 2010

Post summit means a democratic party looking to emerge with a clear sense of the path forward instead finding itself in the same old place - fighting the clock to finish health care, with an uncertain timeline, a complex legislative path and no idea if its leaders can muster the votes.

The sweeping health-care package unveiled this week by the White House appears to face big hurdles in the House, with abortion and unease among moderates potential stumbling blocks to winning passage of the legislation.

In the Senate, at least one Democrat opposes a new provision in the package that would allow the federal government to regulate insurance-premium increases.

Slate's Timothy Noah has put together a fantastic cheat sheet that defines many of the terms and concepts as well as " impenetrable jargon; familiar words and phrases used in unfamiliar ways; and obviously coded messages that you may have some difficulty deciphering" that are part of the heath care debate.

Enjoy:  Health Summit Cheat Sheet. 

Coverage of the Health Care Summit abounds: 

Still Stalemated After Summit; Politico - Feb 25, 2010-02-25

President Barack Obama called on Democrats and Republicans to find a health care compromise in the next few weeks that has eluded them for a year -- but made it clear that he's prepared to short-circuit Senate rules to get reform passed if they fail.

"The question that I'm going to ask myself, and I'm going to ask of all of you, is, is there enough serious effort that in a month's time, or in a few weeks time, or six weeks time, we could actually resolve something," Obama said to close the seven-hour health care summit. "And if we can't then I think we've got to go ahead and make some decisions."

Republicans said the same thing in their closing comments that they said at 10 a.m. - start over. Obama won't.   So the parties walked out of Blair House almost exactly the way they walked in - completely at odds over the best way to fix the health insurance system. There were modest efforts around the edges to find common ground - on reining in waste and fraud and keeping the deficit in check - but no broad agreements on the shape of reform.

Little Sign of Common Ground at Health-Care Summit; The Washington Post -Feb 25, 2010

President Obama held more than six hours of talks Thursday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on ways to salvage health-care reform legislation now stalled in Congress but ran into stiff opposition from GOP members who rejected key provisions and insisted that the effort start again from scratch.

Republicans are planning to counter President Obama's health care proposal with one of their own.  According to the Washington Post,

Republicans are preparing to use Thursday's White House health-care summit to sell their own ideas for using the private marketplace to expand coverage and reduce costs, but they remain wary of fumbling away what they believe is an advantage on the issue heading into this year's critical midterm elections.

GOP leaders are acutely aware of the stakes involved in the extraordinary bipartisan gathering. An effective performance could give their party a vital image boost as November approaches. But if the party's delegation stumbles or oversteps, President Obama and congressional Democrats could see the session provide new life to the stalled health-care legislation they have been laboring over for a year.

Politico has published a copy of the agenda for Thursday's White House Health Care Summit, noting that

... the White House health reform summit has been designed to preserve President Obama's home court advantage. The president, Vice President Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will get the first word on every topic during Thursday's meeting.

For the full story in Politico, click here. 

Despite a stepped-up lobbying effort over the past months, leading physicians' groups appear resigned and exasperated with the idea that Congress will not take permanent action to fix the sustainable growth rate formula before 21% reimbursement cuts for Medicare take effect March 1.

While all but surrendering hope for a permanent solution to end the annual "doc fix" on Capitol Hill, physicians now wonder if an 11th hour temporary fix is doable.

"I don't see the vehicle that Congress can use to come up with that short-term fix," says Lori Heim, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

For the full story from Health Leaders Media, click here.

Stressing the urgent need for action this week on Medicare physician payment reform, AMA President J. James Rohack, M.D. writes in a letter today to every member of the U.S. Congress that in one week "a 21 percent payment cut takes effect, yet the pathway for addressing the underlying problem remains a mystery."

"Kicking the can down the road with yet another short-term action magnifies the problem and makes it very difficult for physicians to continue caring for seniors and military families," writes Dr. Rohack as he recognizes the fiscal challenges facing our nation, while pointing out that short-term action increases the cost of reform and the size of the cut.

"We cannot support congressional efforts that will further undermine the stability of the Medicare program and access to care for our nation's elderly, disabled and military families," writes Dr. Rohack as he calls on Congress to "stop this growing threat to the Medicare and TRICARE programs."

For the full text of the AMA letter, click here. 

At a news conference, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius cited half a dozen examples, from Maine to Washington state, in which insurers have sought large premium increases on people who buy coverage individually. In every case but one, state insurance regulators rejected all or part of the requested increases.

"It shines a light on the urgency for health reform," she said.

The administration's attempt to focus attention on insurance comes during a moment of deep uncertainty over the fate of Congress's intense debate about the health-care system. The House and the Senate have passed Democratic health-care legislation, but those efforts have stalled.

Ten days ago, Sebelius wrote a pointed letter to one insurer, Anthem Blue Cross of California. She demanded to know why the company had alerted 800,000 policyholders that their premiums would rise by as much as 39 percent. Anthem postponed the increase by two months.

For the full story in The Washington Post, click here. 

Related Coverage:

HHS Warns of Double-Digit Spike in Health Premiums; AP/Google News - Feb. 18, 2010

Bleak Economy Pushing Insurance Companies to Raise Rates; The New York Times - February 18, 2010

The Lesson of Anthem Blue Cross; The New York Times - Op-Ed - February 18, 2010

Fight Over Health Care Premiums Heats Up; The Wall Street Journal - February 19, 2010

President Obama on Monday issued his own blueprint for a health care overhaul, challenged Republicans to come forward with their ideas and laid the groundwork for an aggressive parliamentary maneuver to pass the legislation using only Democratic votes if this week brings no progress toward a bipartisan solution.

In laying out for the first time the details of what he wants in the legislation, Mr. Obama set in motion a new round of maneuvering intended to bring a bitterly divisive yearlong clash to a conclusion. With the two parties scheduled to meet Thursday for a televised session on the health care overhaul, Mr. Obama appeared intent on forcing the Republicans into a choice: either put a specific alternative on the table, giving Democrats a chance to draw pointed contrasts between the parties' approaches, or be cast as obstructionist and not serious about addressing an issue of great concern to voters.

For the full story in The New York Times, click here. 

Related coverage:

Obama Stays on Offense With Health-Care Proposal; The Washington Post - Feb. 22, 2010

Obama's Health Bill Plan Largely Follows Senate Version, The New York Times

New Health Care Plan, But With the Same Old Problems, Politico

Outlook No Brighter for Obama's New Health Plan, AP

Obama Renews Health Push, The Wall Street Journal

Obama Unveils a $950B Restart on Health, USA Today