Obama urges action on health care reform

US President Barack ObamaBarack Obama urged legislators on Saturday to act without delay on his proposed health care reform, saying inaction would see more Americans losing health care coverage."We have had a long and important debate. But now is the time for action," Obama said in his weekly radio address."Because every day we wait, more Americans will lose their health care, their businesses, and their homes -- but also the dreams they've worked for and the peace of mind they deserve. They are why we have to succeed."He urged common Americans to put their country and their families before partisan interests."Give us your help. And we will finally get health insurance reform done this year," he said.The president wants Congress to approve his health care reform proposals by the end of the year in order to fulfill one of his key campaign promises -- providing health care to the 47 million Americans, some 15 percent of the population, who now have no medical coverage at all.Obama has been advocating for a government insurance option as a key element of his plan, but his proposals have been fiercely criticized by Republicans.The president also hopes to cut in half runaway health care expenditures which, if unchecked, are forecast to gobble up one-fifth of US gross domestic product by 2013.But he has met increasing resistance from both Republicans and even some among his own Democratic Party worried about the costs of such a reform.Addressing a rare joint session of Congress on Wednesday, Obama demanded action now, arguing that the US health system had been reduced to "breaking point."In his radio address, he cited a new Treasury Department report that forecast that about half of all Americans under 65 will lose their health coverage at some point over the next 10 years if no action is taken."If you're under the age of 21 today, chances are more than half that you'll find yourself uninsured at some point in that time," he said.The Treasury Department's report, also released Saturday, has also found 41 percent American under 65 go without health coverage for a total of at least six months over a 10-year span, and 36 percent go without coverage for at least one year.Those who lost coverage have been on average without health insurance for a total of 3.6 years, according to the survey.Given the current economic crisis and the slow and uneven recovery, "we can reasonably predict that in the next 10 years, without a major reform, at least half of Americans will lose health insurance at some point" in the next 10 years, a Treasury official told reporters.Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner pointed out that every American who had lost a job and whose family had lost medical coverage knew the need for health care reform was real.Every insured American who has seen health care costs go up while their income and savings have gone down knows that reform is necessary," Geithner said in a statement."And as we emerge from the worst financial crisis in generations, it is undeniable that to bring down our long-term deficits, we must bring down the growth of long-term healthcare costs."