Five national insurance agent organizations have joined to urge Congress not to rush health care reform by including it in pending budget discussions.

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Association of Health Insurance Advisors, the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, National Association of Health Underwriters, and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors co-authored a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate finance committees expressing their views.

Budget director Peter Orszag, Director of the White House Office on Health Reform, Nancy Ann DeParle, and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary-Nominee Kathleen Sebelius also received copies of the letter.

“[We] are writing to strongly urge you to exclude health care reform from the budget reconciliation instructions,” the letter reads. “An issue of this magnitude deserves its due consideration under regular order.”

During Congress’ annual budget resolution, leaders can include reconciliation instructions in order to legislate mandatory spending and tax revenue policy proposal.

The producer groups applauded both Congress and the Obama Administration for including health reform as a top priority this year.

“However, we fear the spirit of bipartisan cooperation will be lost if regular order is put aside and the reconciliation process is utilized to fast track health care reform legislation,” the groups wrote. ” The future of the nation’s health care system deserves nothing less than an open, bipartisan and transparent debate by Congress. As you begin deliberations in the conference committee, we hope you will support the Senate position and oppose any effort to inject health care reform into the budget reconciliation instructions.”