Pundits might debate whether health reform will remain on top of a crowded domestic agenda for the next president and Congress, but health industry and advocacy groups aren't flagging.

As The Politico notes, "Giants such as AARP, the insurance industry, Health Care for America Now and the American Medical Association used the August congressional recess to blanket the country in a similar, if not coordinated, message: The country needs health care reform."

The campaigns serve two purposes—to stake out positions for next year, and to keep the issue on the minds of voters when other domestic priorities including energy, the housing and credit markets, and the overall economy, are clamoring for attention. You could argue—and we do (and we even have some polling data to back us up) that health care is a key component of voters' worries about the economy. Gas prices can pinch us economically but a health catastrophe can ruin us.

The Politico reports that considerable time and resources are being thrown into public education campaigns including national advertising, phone banks and outreach to lawmakers back in their districts.

"You're seeing a lot of activity now that would traditionally take place in January or February. The whole advocacy community is six months ahead of where it usually would be on this issue," a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans told the Politico. AHIP has also been hosting its own health-oriented events across the country

The progressive Health Care for America Now has been running a call Congress campaign, while the AARP has been sponsoring state-level forums to explain health care and its ties to financial security, and even doing information sessions at a California farmer's market. The AMA has been running ads, including in Denver and St. Paul, as part of its $15 million Voice for the Uninsured campaign. The group also ran ads in several weekly news magazines and online news sites.

As we all know, Harry and Louise are back, promoting health reform without endorsing a specific approach. They are even on Comedy Central, which was too busy panning cheesy B-movies to take notice the last time they sat at their proverbial kitchen table.

Meanwhile Robert Laszewski over at the Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review makes the case for health care reform—of the bipartisan persuasion. Laszewski argues that a lot of the political rhetoric is just that. McCain wouldn't be able to get his plan through a Democratic Congress, and Obama even with a sympathetic Congress will have a tough sell pushing any expansive plan given the recent forecast of a $500 billion deficit.

"Let me suggest that it is more imortant for voters to hear from these candidates about how they will handle the real world of health care reform rather than the pretend one they seem to be debating." We think that plans can and will evolve, so we want to see what the next president comes up with next winter. But Laszewksi also pointed out that the candidates should take a good look at what is to date the most bipartisan health policy game in town, the Healthy Americans Act sponsored by Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden and Utah Republican Bob Bennett.