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Not acting on health insurance reform is not an option. It is not an option for the millions of uninsured Americans, not for the small business owners struggling to offer health insurance benefits to their employees, not for families unable to meet the rising monthly premiums and high deductibles, and not for the seniors with skyrocketing prescription drug costs. Yesterday, President Obama spoke at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania about the urgent need for health care reform and asked Republicans in Congress calling for further delays, "When is the right time? If not now, when? If not us, who?...You had ten years. What happened? What were you doing?":

"We must have the courage, though, to get the job done. We have the ideas. We have the commitment. We have the dedication. We know the urgency. Now we have to have the courage to get the job done."

A new analysis of the health insurance market by Goldman Sachs shows big insurance companies are taking advantage of limited competition by aggressively raising premiums and other costs on consumers. Over the last several years, the health insurance industry has become increasingly concentrated--giving consumers fewer and fewer meaningful choices in shopping for health insurance. According to a recent study by the AMA, there have been more than 400 mergers among health insurers in the past 14 years and as this map shows, many areas of our country are dominated by just one or two private insurers today:

In yesterday's New York Times, Congressional scholars Thomas Mann, Norm Ornstein and others explain the history of the reconciliation process -- requiring a simple majority vote in the Senate -- and discuss their views on using it to finalize health insurance reform legislation:

Congress is taking the final steps to pass comprehensive health insurance reform to ensure all Americans have access to affordable, high quality care. There are a number of provisions that will take effect immediately available to American workers, their families and small businesses -- the President referenced these in his weekly address to the nation on Saturday:

Tax credits for small business owners who purchase health insurance

Bans insurance companies from dropping your coverage when you get sick

Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions

No more lifetime limits or restrictive annual caps on benefits

Free preventive care in all new private plans