Some anxious Democrats and their allies sent President Joe Biden a clear message this week: Dont forget about health care.

The impetus for the message was concern about Bidens address to a joint session of Congress this coming Wednesday , when he will formally introduce the American Family Plan. The proposal is supposed to represent the second half of Bidens economic agenda, and until recently, the assumption was that health care would figure prominently in it.

The only question was which policies, exactly, Biden would endorse. That prompted a familiar-sounding debate over what to prioritize, with progressives promoting improvements to and expansions of Medicare and House leaders, along with other establishment Democrats, pushing reinforcements of the Affordable Care Act .

That debate is still taking place. But this past week, another issue emerged. Rumors and then media reports suggested that the American Family Plan might not even have a major health care component.

That alarmed both camps, each of which interpreted the news as a sign of ambivalence from the president, and prompted a flurry of action very clearly designed to get the administrations attention.

Some of these actions were right out in the open. When House Democratic leaders on Thursday reintroduced their prescription drug legislation, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) went out of her way to say that it will be a top priority for House Democrats to be included in the American Families Plan.

Later that day, two groups of House Democrats sent letters to the White House, urging Biden to include health care in the American Family Plan.