No offense to all the headline writers coming up with these "HEALTH CARE HITS ROADBLOCKS" newsflashes, but it isn't exactly a surprise. We didn't expect health reform to pass on a voice vote. Big legislation is hard. Health care reform is hard. Hard politics. Hard policy. Hard economics.

Rather than think about how hard it is, we would like to remind you about how much harder (and costlier) it will be for all of us if we do nothing. So keep these headlines in mind as we strive for a health care system that will make a choice of affordable, high quality health plans available to all Americans.

Health care costs expected to rise 9 percent in 2010; increasing four times faster than wages.

52 Million Could be Uninsured Next Year.

NBC/WSJ  poll: Most people support President Obama's health reform plan;  55 percent back the president's plan, 35 percent oppose. (We're tempted to make some joke about how the remaining 10 percent are off getting affordable heart surgery in Bangkok or Bangalore but we'll refrain.)

Consumer Confidence Drops in Health Care:

We can break that last one down for you:

• People are afraid of losing their insurance.
• Americans are worried about being able to afford  care.
• People are skipping needed medical care.
• Americans are having trouble paying their medical bills.

Were we happy to see the news about cost estimates this week? Of course not. Did we cheer when we heard Senate Finance was delaying its formal action on legislation? No. But we didn't overreact either. If it takes Finance another week or two to work out the money and strike a deal, so be it.  We're still moving ahead. The House and Senate are too. We can't afford not to.