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Obama vows to launch US healthcare reform by end of year
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-06 08:27

WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama pumped health care allies and skeptics alike for ways to overhaul the nation's costly and frustrating system Thursday and heard only applause and agreement when he told them there's "a clear consensus that the need for health care reform is here and now."

However, he conceded at a White House summit that opinions vary widely on exactly what to do and said that winning quick approval for historic and stunningly expensive legislation won't be easy.


US President Barack Obama delivers opening remarks at the White House Forum on Health Reform, Washington, D.C., March 5, 2009. [Xinhua]

Still, the unanimity on the urgency to act underscored how the political environment has become more favorable to revamping the thorny system since President Bill Clinton's attempt failed in the 1990s under intense resistance from drugmakers, insurance companies and others. All those interest groups were on hand Thursday, and Obama intended his daylong Washington session and a series of meetings to follow around the country to signal that his push for universal health care coverage will be more open and inclusive than Clinton's.

"Every voice has to be heard. Every idea must be considered ... The status quo is the one option that is not on the table," Obama said during the White House forum on what he calls the greatest threat to the US economy - rising health care costs. Mindful of the demise of the Clinton plan, Obama warned, "Those who seek to block any reform at all, any reform at any cost, will not prevail this time around."

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The US system is the world's costliest; the country spends some US$2.4 trillion a year on health care. It leaves an estimated 48 million people uninsured, and many others lack adequate insurance.

Firm in his insistence on action, Obama was relaxed as he fielded questions from lawmakers and the heads of crucial interest groups. At one point he sneezed twice, and then as the audience laughed said, "This is a health care forum, so I thought I'd model what happens when you don't get enough sleep."

In an emotional moment, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts addressed the group, his first Washington appearance in weeks as he battles brain cancer. He received a long ovation and declared, "I'm looking forward to being a foot soldier in this undertaking, and this time we will not fail."

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