Obama urged to overhaul healthcare, stat

In a letter to Obama, the Business Roundtable, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, AARP and the Service Employees International Union urge that a healthcare overhaul be a priority in the administration's first 100 days.

The groups plan to spend nearly $1 million to publicize their cause in newspaper and television advertising in coming weeks.

"What we are doing is reminding not just the president but the Congress as well that . . . this remains one of the most important issues facing the country," said Business Roundtable President John Castellani. "We need to now follow through."

In their letter, the groups link healthcare reform with the nation's bleak economic conditions.

"Addressing skyrocketing healthcare costs is a critical component of stabilizing household, national and global economies," the letter said. "Inaction undermines the economic security of our families; limits the productivity of our workforce; stagnates job creation and wage growth; and threatens to crowd out investments in energy, education and infrastructure."

Obama made healthcare reform a central plank of his presidential campaign, pledging a sweeping effort to expand coverage and lower costs.

But since his victory, he has not indicated how he plans to proceed with an overhaul that could cost hundreds of billions of dollars and spark an intense political battle.

In a national radio address Saturday, Obama made a general reference to healthcare reform, listing it with energy, education and tax relief as "key priorities."

Several senior House Democrats have indicated they are uneasy about tackling broad healthcare legislation in the first months of the new Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) has talked about an effort to expand the popular State Children's Health Insurance Program, a more limited initiative that President Bush vetoed last year.

But there are growing calls elsewhere in the Democratic Party for swift action.

Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who chair the committees that would probably put together any healthcare legislation, have urged Obama to move quickly.