WHITE HOUSE PREPS FOR NEXT STAGE.... When it comes to health care reform, from the administration's perspective, July didn't go quite according to plan. August was a mess, though not entirely an unexpected one.

But as September gets underway, and lawmakers return from a hot, five-week recess, the White House is preparing for the next stage in the fight for reform.

President Obama is planning for "a new season" of more hands-on advocacy for his troubled domestic priority, an overhaul of the health care system, according to his advisers. Among the likely steps would be a nationally televised speech that close allies have urged, and a 10-year price tag for the overhaul below the $1 trillion mark.

Mr. Obama met on Tuesday with advisers including Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, and David Axelrod, a senior strategist, to prepare for Congress's return to work next week after a month in which many lawmakers have been spooked by contentious townhall meetings and polls registering slipping support for the president and his health care plans.

"We're obviously entering a new season here and this issue has been debated and discussed and chewed over at great length now," Mr. Axelrod said in an interview. "There are a lot of ideas on the table and now it's time to pull those strands together and finish the work."