Barack Obama: The time for talk is over on health reform
President Barack Obama tells Missouri crowd it is 'time to vote' on proposed healthcare overhaul
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Thursday, 11, Mar 2010 05:50
By Sarah Garrod.
US president Barack Obama has said the "time for talk is over" on his crucial plans to overhaul the country's healthcare system.
Speaking to a crowd in Missouri, Mr Obama said it was time for Congress to vote on his proposed healthcare plans, which would see a trillion-dollar national health service introduced in the world's richest nation.
In Washington, the president's health secretary Kathleen Sebelius said health insurance groups must make health cover more affordable. She added that insurers should "give up some of their profits" to make premiums more affordable.
In Missouri the president hoped to rally support for his plans, saying: "The time to talk is over. It's time to vote.
"I don't know about the politics, but I know that it is the right thing to do and that is why I am fighting so hard to get it done."
The president's reforms have had a mixed reception; with Republicans staunchly opposing them as "socialism".
The president has been on a tough weeklong campaign to secure crucial votes in Congress on his healthcare plan before he leaves on a trip to Indonesia and Australia.