Obama: Urgent need for healthcare reform

NEW YORK, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. healthcare system works better for insurance companies than it does for citizens, President Barack Obama wrote in a New York Times op-ed piece Sunday.

Obama said Congress must pass healthcare reform this year to weaken the power of insurance companies and protect the millions of U.S. residents who lack insurance or pay too much for it.

"If we maintain the status quo, we will continue to see 14,000 Americans lose their health insurance every day," Obama wrote. "Premiums will continue to skyrocket. Our deficit will continue to grow. And insurance companies will continue to profit by discriminating against sick people."

Under his administration's plan, those without health insurance would have a choice of affordable coverage whether they move, change jobs or lose their job, he said.

Healthcare costs would be reduced by cutting hundreds of billions of dollars in waste from Medicare and Medicaid while eliminating unwarranted subsidies to insurance companies, Obama wrote, adding Medicare would be made more efficient by ensuring tax dollars go directly to care for seniors instead of going to insurance companies.

"I don't believe anyone should be in charge of your healthcare decisions but you and your doctor -- not government bureaucrats, not insurance companies," Obama said.