BY DIETER BRADBURY

Portland Press Herald

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Barack Obama praised Congress on Wednesday for its work on health care reform, and said it's important not to lose momentum.

"The key now is that we keep moving forward and avoid the kinds of delaying tactics and fear-mongering that has prevented change in the past," he said.

Obama spoke at a White House meeting with reporters from several newspapers, including the Portland Press Herald.

The president said he does not want to create a national public health plan that would compete unfairly with private health insurers -- a concern voiced by a number of critics.

Obama said a government-run plan "should not be dependent on public support and should provide healthy competition to private plans," inducing them to deliver services more efficiently.

He said U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, who is helping to write health care legislation as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, has played a constructive role in the debate.

"She's not ideological about these issues," he said. "She's practical."

Obama said he spoke this week with Snowe, who has raised concerns about the impact of a federal health care plan on the private market. The president said he's confident that he can address her concerns.

Congress is on recess this week, and the health care debate is shifting from Capitol Hill to street corners and other public forums.

In Portland and Augusta, Health Care for American Now, a coalition of liberal groups that supports a government-run health plan, staged demonstrations Wednesday.

Other groups have been airing television ads and distributing leaflets calling for health care reform.

Before his meeting, Obama held a "town hall" meeting on health care Wednesday in Annandale, Va. About 200 people attended the gathering, which also featured questions from an online audience on social networking sites.

In his session with reporters, Obama said he's encouraged that the pharmaceutical industry, doctors, hospitals and others who opposed reform attempts in the 1990s now agree that the present system needs an overhaul.

As an example, he cited the prescription drug industry's recent offer to cut $80 billion from the costs of medication under the Medicare program.

"What that tells you is that they recognize the current way of doing business is unsustainable," he said.

Obama said he does not want to create a program that would "add a new set of customers without cost controls," as was done when Medicare benefits were overhauled.

Reform must be paid for by reducing costs or by redistributing what's being spent now, he said. "Whatever it is that we propose has to be paid for without adding to the deficit," he said.

Republicans have been sharply critical of a proposed government plan because of its cost and the prospect that people might not be able to choose their own insurance company or doctor.

The GOP kepts up its criticism on Wednesday, hosting a live blog while Obama participated in the Virginia event.

The Congressional Budget Office and others have estimated that health care reform will cost $1 trillion to $1.6 trillion.

Those figures have been a concern for Snowe and the Finance Committee, where a handful of members have been laboring over a bipartisan compromise on the bill.

Snowe says a public health plan should be a last resort, implemented only if the private market doesn't respond to structural changes driven by legislation.

After speaking with Obama earlier this week, she praised him for being flexible.

"I appreciate his understanding of the critical importance of producing a bipartisan bill with the broadest possible support," she said, "and his willingness to work together to achieve this watershed endeavor."

Obama said he and Snowe agree on many of the board parameters of where health care reform is needed.

"I'm confident that there should be a way to alleviate her legitimate concerns about unfair competition while preserving the choices and fair competition that a public plan can provide," he said.