NPR People: Julie Rovner

As health care overhaul legislation winds its way toward the finish line, both sides are working to get their opinions heard. As usual, some use fear and exaggeration to make their claims. How accurate are these 30-second attempts to boil down a year's worth of debate? We decided to put a few to the test.

Democrats are exploring a tricky procedure called "deeming" to speed up passage of health care legislation. The move would allow the House to pass the Senate health bill without a separate and distinct vote on it.

House Democrats say they're closing in on a final vote on a health overhaul. But a few big issues remain to be ironed out before they can muster the votes needed to get the bill over the finish line. The biggest fight of all remains abortion.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told health insurers they risked losing consumers if they didn't work with the White House on a health care overhaul. But Karen Ignagni, the head of the insurance trade organization, said her group was eager to support an overhaul, just not this one.

Since the Senate passed its version of a health overhaul Christmas Eve, most of the debate has focused on the politics of the effort. By now, many people have forgotten — if they ever knew — what the bill would actually do.

In a speech at the White House on Wednesday, the president asked Congress to send him a bill within the next few weeks. Republicans said even if a bill is passed, the debate will be far from over: Every election in the fall will be a referendum on the issue, with GOP candidates campaigning to repeal it.

Once again, one of the issues blocking a health overhaul bill from getting to President Obama's desk is abortion. This time, both abortion-rights backers and opponents dislike the language in the bill passed by the Senate late last year. But for the effort to move forward, the House will have to pass that bill as is.

After a marathon meeting hosted by President Obama Thursday, Republicans and Democrats appeared no closer to bridging their differences on health care. Democrats vowed to move forward, and Republicans vowed to continue fighting a comprehensive overhaul.

President Obama hosted Thursday a bipartisan health care summit, in a bid to bridge deep divisions between the two parties on health care.

California health insurer Anthem Blue Cross' plans to raise premiums by as much as 39 percent in some markets has become a rallying cry for the Obama administration as it aims to increase public support for health overhaul. President Obama's health bill could affect the future rate increases of Anthem and other insurers.

To get the president's health care plan passed, Democrats will likely use a process called budget reconciliation, which allows them to prevent a GOP filibuster and advance the bill with a simple majority. Republicans say the process was not designed for such a large bill, but reconciliation has often been used to move major health policy.

President Obama tried a new way Monday to jump-start his stalled health care overhaul: He unveiled his own detailed health proposal and put it on the Internet. It's intended as a starting point for a bipartisan health care summit set for Thursday.

The White House unveiled a new health care overhaul plan Monday. It includes a proposal to give federal authorities the power to limit rate hikes by health insurance companies.

The provision in the Democrats' health overhaul bills requiring every American to have health insurance is abhorrent to many Republicans. But several GOP senators now opposed to the "individual mandate" backed a 1993 bill that would have required it.

With Congress still stalled on the big health bill, it turns to smaller pieces of legislation. The House this week will vote on a bill to repeal a decades-old insurance industry exemption from antitrust laws. Some analysts say eliminating the exemption wouldn't have an impact on competition or premiums.