Health care reform seems to have suddenly taken a back seat to the issues of jobs and the economy, following the election of Scott Brown to the Senate. However, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, taking the focus off reform may actually be a good move for the Democrats, who are said to be working again to re-group party members back to the table, still thinking of using the budget reconciliation procedure to a pass some elements of reform legislation.

The President spoke to Democrats on Wednesday at the Senate Democratic Policy Committee Issues Conference. He encouraged them not to give up on reform, pointing out their past work on health care and what needs to be done in enacting reform.

"There's a direct link between the work that you guys did on that and the reason that you got into public office in the first place," Obama stated. "And so as we think about moving forward, I hope we don't lose sight of why we're here. We've got to finish the job on health care." The President also reminded the Democrats they still have a majority in the Senate, and that "scores" of pieces of legislation had been passed despite a filibuster. He framed the filibuster threat as an institutional problem that would backfire if done just as an attempt at trying to shut the process down.

Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testified before the Senate Finance Committee, regarding the Obama Administration's proposed budget. Secretary Geithner did not ignore health care reform, making it part of what is needed for fiscal responsibility. "We will further assist tens of millions of middle-class families if we pass health care reform that protects every American from the worst practices of the insurance industry, gives small businesses and uninsured Americans a chance to choose an affordable health care plan in a competitive market, and requires every insurance plan to cover preventative care," Geithner stated in his testimony.

Geithner went on to say that health care reform would not only make care available for individuals and families, reform would also reduce the growth of health care costs, and add to the ability to reduce deficits over the long term. He warned that if there were no health care reform, keeping fiscal balance would be continually challenged as the Baby Boom generation retires, including the "unsustainable rate of growth in entitlement spending and the long-run gap between government revenues and expenditures."

Last Friday, President Obama met with Congressional Republicans at the GOP House Issues Conference. The President faced a group of his most stringent critics, but came out swinging on various issues, including health care.

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