Obama: Reform needed to prevent bankruptcy

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama Wednesday said the U.S. government will go bankrupt if Congress does not enact legislation to bring down healthcare costs.

In an interview with ABC News, the president said Medicare and Medicaid costs are on an "unsustainable" trajectory and "the federal government will go bankrupt" if they are left unchecked. Without reform, he said, "nobody argues with the fact that healthcare costs are going to consume the entire federal budget."

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Wednesday Congress should scrap the healthcare legislation being worked on in the Senate and start the process over. Dean told ABC News the bill under consideration has some attractive elements but "does more harm than good."

Dean and scores of members of Congress are critical of congressional action that has stripped the measure of a so-called public option and a proposal to expand Medicare coverage to people 55 and older.

Obama told ABC the measure still provides insurance for millions who are currently uninsured without adding to the federal deficit.

"Now, if you can tell me that those things are not worth it," he said, "then you and I have a very different opinion about what the task is here."

The president said if no healthcare reform legislation is passed premiums are guaranteed to go up and employers will either drop coverage for employees or require workers to pay a greater share for their coverage.