Washington - President Barack Obama late Wednesday challenged US lawmakers to end a vicious dispute over health care and approve an overhaul of the system before it is too late. Looking to regain momentum on his top domestic issue after a tumultuous summer, Obama warned in a major speech to a joint session of Congress that the world's costliest health care system had reached a "breaking point" and must be reformed by the end of the year.
Obama's rare speech at the US Capitol came two days after Congress returned from a month-long summer recess, during which many legislators were shouted down on the issue by angry opponents at townhall meetings in their home states.
The debate has been hugely divisive so far. Conservatives fiercely oppose more government involvement, while left-leaning lawmakers have remained insistent on creating a state-run insurance option to compete with private insurance companies.
Hopes for a compromise lie largely with a bipartisan group of six lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee that have been haggling for weeks. The committee's chairman, Max Baucus, said they will offer their proposals next week. Four other congressional committees have also offered plans.
"Our collective failure to meet this challenge - year after year, decade after decade - has led us to a breaking point," Obama said, noting that reforms have been discussed off-and-on for more than 100 years.
"I'm not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last," Obama said.
In a stark portrayal of the pitfalls, Obama asserted that more people would die, more families would go bankrupt and the federal budget deficit would become unsustainable if major reforms were not passed. Losing insurance coverage, because of a lost job or a preexisting health condition, "can happen to anyone," he warned.
"The time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action," he said.
Obama, who has so far left the crafting of the legislation largely to Congress, delivered a series of more concrete proposals during the rare address before a joint session of Congress.
He broke a presidential campaign pledge not to require insurance coverage, arguing that the system can no longer allow younger or middle-income families to "game the system." Everyone would have to "carry basic health insurance."
Obama stood by the creation of a public insurance option that has been sharply opposed by conservatives. He insisted that such an option would not receive taxpayer subsidies and was necessary as a counterbalance to private insurance companies.
