Obama: Healthcare reform must happen soon

WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) -- Healthcare reform isn't a luxury, and changing the U.S. healthcare system must be done, President Barack Obama told Democrats Tuesday at the White House.

To meet his test, a healthcare reform bill must do two things: control exploding healthcare costs and add more people to healthcare rolls, Obama said before Democrats met on healthcare legislation in Congress.

"If we don't get control over costs, then it is going to be very difficult for us to expand coverage," Obama said. "These two things have to go hand in hand."

Healthcare reform "is not a luxury" nor something that must be done because of his campaign pledge, Obama said.

"This is a necessity," he said. "This is something that has to be done. Soaring health care costs are unsustainable for families, they are unsustainable for businesses, and they are unsustainable for governments ... at the federal, state and local levels."

He said projections indicated a fifth of the U.S. economy was projected to be wrapped up in the healthcare system in 10 years.

Among other things that need to be addressed are creating incentives for reimbursement, getting doctors to work together more effectively and work on prevention and wellness programs "so that we're driving down costs across the board," Obama said.