Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday posted that a renewed nudge for healthcare overhaul is being fueled, partly by the need to stem escalating insurance costs that are stripping families and small businesses of their health coverage.

The report was issued as President Barack Obama attempts to reiterate stalled healthcare reform plans in the face of Republican opposition and public skepticism.

"I think the president has indicated that he intends to have a proposal . . . for public consumption before the summit", Sebelius said at a Washington news conference. "So there will be one proposal. It is the president's, and I think the idea is that it will take some of the best of the ideas [from the House and Senate bills] and put them into a framework moving forward”.

Sebelius rebuked that the nation's largest insurance companies for raising premiums on customers who opt for individual policies. According to her, the premiums have resulted in large insurer gains, citing a report last week that depicted the country's five largest insurers made $12.2 billion in profits last year, up 56% over 2008.

The House of Representatives and the Senate had issued varied versions of healthcare reform and were attempting to reconcile the bills when Democrats lost the Massachusetts Senate seat previously held by Edward Kennedy, who died last year.