For almost a century, presidents and members of Congress have tried and failed to provide universal health benefits to Americans.

A co-op near Seattle that has embraced a collaborative model of primary care has attracted interest in Congress.

The annual appropriations process will be in full swing on the Senate and House floors this week, but it is the effort to overhaul the nation’s health care system will dominate the agenda in Congress with the action largely focused in committee hearing rooms.

Outline of the debate over key aspects of health care reform. Description of some of the proposals for how to pay for the plans. A diagram showing how the legislation is planned to make its way through Congress.

The process of allocating resources already happens in health care. It just needs to be made more effective.

The Senate Finance Committee is delaying its first public drafting session on major health care legislation until after the July Fourth recess, a lengthy setback but one that even Democrats say is critically needed to let them work on reducing the costs of the bill.

Leaders in both chambers said they wanted to establish a new public health insurance program, which would compete with private insurers.

Senators Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, and Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, insist they can overcome 70 years of precedent on health legislation.

If the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has his way, two faces of the debate over American health care reform will be Shona Holmes of Ontario, Canada, and Bruce Hardy, of Ruislip, England.