President Barack Obama took his push for healthcare overhaul to the U.S. heartland today, calling the current system unsustainable and vowing not to tolerate "endless delay" before acting to fix it, according to Reuters. Hosting a townhall-style meeting, Obama stuck to his view that a government-sponsored insurance plan must be part of a healthcare revamp, despite opposition to the idea from Republicans, private insurers and even the influential American Medical Association doctors' group. "We have reached a point where doing nothing about the cost of health care is no longer an option. The status quo is unsustainable," the Democratic president said. He insisted, however, he was not seeking a "government takeover" of the troubled system. Obama's drive on healthcare comes as lawmakers seek to craft a bill and pass it through the Senate before their summer break. Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives also hope to pass legislation by August. "As Congress moves forward on healthcare legislation in the coming weeks, I understand there will be different ideas and disagreements ... I welcome those ideas," he said. "But what I will not welcome is endless delay." Underscoring a sense of urgency, he said, "If we don't get it done this year, we're probably not going to get it done."
