US health secretary Kathleen Sebelius will escalate pressure on health insurance companies on Wednesday, urging them to forgo short-term profits and stop fighting president Barack Obama's health reform plans.

"You can choose to take the millions of dollars you have stored away for your next round of ads to kill meaningful reform, and use them to start giving Americans some relief from their skyrocketing premiums," Sebelius will say in an address to an industry group, according to excerpts released by the White House.

"If you take this approach, you may give up some short-term profits. But you will also be helping to create a sustainable health insurance market where all Americans will be able to buy coverage," she will say.