But he also wants to reduce the budget deficit by half by 2013.
Obama acknowledged that health care reform will require additional costs in the short term in order to reduce spending in the long-term.
In his address, Obama noted that Medicare and Medicaid pose one of the greatest threats to the US federal deficit, and could leave the country "with a mountain of debt" that future generations would not be able to pay.
"We cannot continue down this path," he noted. "I do not accept a future where Americans forego health care because they can't pay for it, and more and more families go without coverage at all."
Source-AFP
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