Yesterday, President Obama made another public appeal for urgent action on health care reform. Flanked by Democrats from two key Senate committees, he made the case that reform is “not a luxury”, and is rather an economic necessity.

So Obama summoned Democrats from two key Senate committees to the White House on Tuesday to make clear that the bill must control health costs and not add to the deficit — demands that make their task even more challenging, because it means finding enough upfront spending cuts and tax increases to pay for the overhaul.

The message underscores the political challenge facing the White House: How will Obama convince Americans that, despite a weak economy and a $1.8 trillion deficit, the country can afford a massive health care fix and sustain it over time?

The president has long framed health care reform as an economic necessity, but his attention appears almost singularly focused on pressing that point in recent weeks — issuing a report on the long-term benefits of reform, touting an effort by the health care industry to reduce costs and highlighting companies that were finding insurance savings through prevention programs.

“It is not sufficient for us simply to add more people to Medicare or Medicaid to increase the rolls, to increase coverage in the absence of cost controls and reform,” Obama said Tuesday. “And let me repeat this principle: If we don’t get control over costs, then it is going to be very difficult for us to expand coverage. These two things have to go hand in hand. Another way of putting it is we can’t simply put more people into a broken system that doesn’t work.”

Controlling costs and ensuring access are clearly critical issues. And biotech companies and organizations like BIO have been very vocal about the need for improvement in these areas. But it’s also critical that we approach reform in a way that prioritizes quality patient care. We’ll be watching this debate closely to see how this plays out through the legislative process.

Watch Obama’s remarks: