WASHINGTON — President Obama warned doctors yesterday that America’s health-care industry could join ailing car companies in bankruptcy if the system isn’t overhauled.
“If we do not fix our health-care system, America may go the way of GM — paying more, getting less and going broke,” he told a gathering of the American Medical Association in his hometown of Chicago.
Fixing health care, Obama said, “is the single most important thing we can do for America’s long-term fiscal health.”
“It is a fiscal drain at all levels of American society,” he went on. “It’s an escalating burden on our families and businesses.
“It’s a ticking time bomb for the federal budget, and it is unsustainable for the United States of America.”
Obama wants to spend another $1 trillion of federal tax dollars over the next 10 years finding ways to provide health insurance for some 50 million uninsured Americans through a new public program similar to Medicare.
But the White House remains vague on specifics, preferring that Congress hammer out a plan that Obama can support.
Speaking for nearly an hour — perhaps the longest speech of his 6-month-old presidency — Obama even joked about his loquacity.
“Now, I know this has been a long speech, but we got more to do,” he said — only about two-thirds of his way through.
The reforms cannot be done, Obama said, without AMA doctors.
When he mentioned the crippling effects of medical-malpractice lawsuits, the doctors applauded.
He quickly added that he does not favor capping awards, turning the applause into boos.
But he said he is willing to “explore a range of ideas” about curbing suits.
Obama said the United States currently spends more than $2 trillion annually on health care, and about 50 percent more per person than the next-most-costly nation.
Yet, he added, “more of our citizens are uninsured, the quality of our care is often lower, and we aren’t any healthier. In fact, citizens in some countries that spend substantially less than we do are actually living longer than we do.”
churt@nypost.com