WORLD: Obama heralds health reforms for 47m poor

Barack Obama is battling to push through a policy which is the biggest challenge to his immense popularity so far — health reforms for millions of poor Americans.

The president went live on TV to argue for the changes, which would target the 47 million people without health insurance and cost billions.

In the face of much opposition, he wants new Bills passed in Congress by early next month.

Mr Obama told a news conference he now saw "broad agreement" on passing a reform, but that some issues still needed working out.

The president has made passing a healthcare reform Bill the top priority of his first year in the White House. In the past 10 days, he has embarked on an aggressive push to promote his plans, as members of Congress argue over the details of reform.

The President's ambitious plan is the first big test of his political strength and a measure of how far he is prepared to bend to achieve his agenda. Failure will be seen by his opponents as a major personal defeat.

The President said Americans were looking to Congress for leadership. "This isn't about me — I have great health insurance and so does every member of Congress," he said.

It was ordinary Americans who had been forced to "shoulder the burden of a problem that Washington has failed to solve for decades", he continued.

"We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice and provides coverage that every American can count on. And we will do it this year."

He added: "I'm rushed because I get letters every day from families being clobbered by healthcare costs, and they ask me can you help."

The president said he would not rule out any ideas in Congress, except any proposal "primarily funded through taxing middle class families".

Politicians are divided on whether to set up a public insurance scheme without employer-sponsored coverage and how to pay for it all.

Meanwhile, the President has come under fire from doctors for nominating a surgeon-general they say is overweight.

Critics of the choice of Regina Benjamin, a 52-year-old GP, say her new job will involve encouraging people to lead healthier lives. In a country where 34 per cent of over-twenties are obese, disparaging comments have been posted online after her introduction at the White House last week, and these were backed by experts.

Lillie Shockney, director of the Johns Hopkins Avon Breast Centre, said Dr Benjamin's weight was not "over the top", but she added: "Young people will hear her better if she is practising what we expect her to preach." And Marcia Angell, of Harvard University Medical School, told ABC News: "At a time when a lot of public health concern is about the national epidemic of obesity, having a surgeon-general who is noticeably overweight raises questions in people's minds."

But the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance said: "America needs the best of the best to lead it through these difficult times and Dr Benjamin is one of those people."