Mr. Obama promised reform in last year's presidential campaign, and congressional Democrats want a success they can boast about during next year's midterm congressional elections campaign.

Democratic Congressman Howard Berman of California is a guest on VOA's Press Conference USA program.

"It is very important," said Howard Berman. "I think the failure to pass health-care legislation this year will be a tremendous setback for the administration and for the leadership in Congress."

House Democrats have made some progress in recent days in bridging differences between liberal lawmakers focused on covering the uninsured and more conservative party members concerned about the cost of the reform effort.

A competing plan is being drafted in the Senate.

Congress will take its annual long recess in August, and Democrats hope to use the time to build support for health-care reform around the country.

But opposition Republicans will be busy too, trying to point out what they see as the flaws in the Obama approach when they meet with voters.

Congressman Paul Ryan is a Republican from Wisconsin.

"What is wrong with going home for August and having town hall meetings, listening to our constituents and then coming back in September and doing this right," said Paul Ryan.

Former Democratic Senator Tom Daschle has long supported health-care reform. But he told Bloomberg television that he is worried that Republicans will try to derail the president's plan during the congressional recess.

"Well, this is critical," said Tom Daschle. "The risk of defeat goes up during this time because you have got, in essence, a political campaign. You are going to take this entire issue and boil it down to 30 second ads."

In 2007, expenditures on health care totaled about one-sixth of the entire U.S. economy, and even top congressional leaders acknowledge that attempting to rein in health-care costs while at the same time expanding health-insurance coverage is a daunting task.

Nevada Senator Harry Reid is the Democratic majority leader:

"Would I like to move more quickly? Of course, but this is very, very difficult legislation," said Harry Reid. "In fact, I am not the first to have said it is the most difficult legislation probably in the last century because it affects literally everybody in America."

Democratic congressional leaders hope to agree on a final version of health-care reform by September or October, once they reconcile competing plans that emerge from the Senate and the House of Representatives.