U.S. President Barack Obama has called for Congress to allow an "up or down vote" on his overhaul health care reform bill, urging the decision to be taken within the next few weeks, U.S. media has said.
"I believe the United States Congress owes the American people a final vote on health care reform," Obama said during a 20-minute speech in the White House on Wednesday, just days after he held a high-profile televised health care forum.
"Everything there is to say about health care has been said, and just about everybody has said it," he said, adding "now is the time to make a decision about how to finally reform health care so that it works, not just for the insurance companies, but for America's families and America's businesses."
The bill, which is designed to extend medical insurance to millions of Americans, was passed by a narrow 220-215 vote in the House of Representatives in November 2009 and by a 60-39 vote in the Senate a month later.
Congress, however, has been slow to take a decision.
"They're making a vigorous effort to try to jam this down the throats of the American people, who don't want it," the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, was quoted as saying by the New York Times.
"We think that's a policy mistake, and we think resorting to these kind of tactics, to thumb your noses at the American people, is something that ought to be resisted."
At the moment, about 47 million people, or one sixth of the U.S. population, have no medical insurance.
The bill, if passed, will oblige all Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a fine, while the majority of employers, with the exemption of some small businesses, would have to provide insurance coverage to their staff. It would also bar companies from refusing medical insurance to people with the so-called pre-existing conditions or to charge more from people with unfavorable medical record.
The draft, seen as a major overhaul of healthcare system in decades, would also enable the government to sell insurance in competition with private firms.
The reform has been criticized for its costs of some $900 billion in the next decade. Obama, however, says it would have no negative impact on the country's economy.
WASHINGTON, March 4 (RIA Novosti)
