On Tuesday, President Barack Obama stepped up his advocacy for health reform during a news conference at the White House, and tonight he will take questions from a live audience in a nationally televised event called “Questions for the President: Prescription for America.” As this important debate heats up, MinnPost readers will be seeing more and more reporting on the issues involved.

Today, in "Taking the pulse of health reform," Casey Selix describes a new Health care Consumer Confidence Index developed by University of Minnesota researchers, and lays out the primary issues in the health-reform debate. Her article also includes links to further information -- both exhaustive and summarized -- about the points at issue.

Over the next few months, Selix will examine various aspects of the health debate and its impact on Minnesota, and keep MinnPost readers up to speed on what’s being written and said about health-policy developments in the media. And our Washington correspondent, Cynthia Dyzikes, will cover the action as issues develop on Capitol Hill. This health-policy coverage will be in addition to the consumer-health items in Second Opinion, our new blog coordinated by Susan Perry.

MinnPost staffers welcome your input as we follow this important story. You can comment on this post or email me at salbright [at] minnpost.com with your suggestions.