There are few national challenges as weighty — both in complexity and cost — as the burden of our health care system. Arriving at a reform package that even begins to whittle away at the core problem will take an orientation centered solidly on economic realities.

That is not what the American public is getting from Washington, D.C. Although many in the health-care and insurance industries have worked at framing the debate from a practical standpoint, too many are attempting to refocus the issue through a partisan lens.

In recent days, South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint kicked off a war of words, calling on Republicans to defeat President Obama's health reform efforts, which would result in a "Waterloo" defeat and "break" the president.

This generated a chorus of protests from the president and Democrats in the Senate, all of which accomplishes nothing but scoring political points.

Beyond Capitol Hill, GOP leaders sense an opportunity in polls showing mounting public concern with the cost of proposals now circulating through Congress. Ads are pressing for the defeat of reform efforts.

For its part, a wing of the Democrat National Committee is also running ads, wooing centrist Democrats who are wavering on the issue.

All the political noise is drowning out the topical discussion that could help shape the bill into a final form. What's needed is a route toward universal coverage that doesn't bankrupt the nation.

The goal of the legislative discourse should be to fix the bill, not kill it, postponing indefinitely the crucial effort to reform the system.

Indications now are that the House may postpone a vote until after the August recess. If that can't be avoided, there should be a deadline set for a vote, or momentum will be lost for this key legislation.

Congress must find ways to achieve savings through new efficiencies and otherwise limit the hit taxpayers will take to finance the expanded coverage.

They just need to do so without the endless partisan tit for tat. It's not helping anyone.