Countdown for Obama's healthcare reform

US President Barack Obama has delivered an emotional appeal for his controversial overhaul of the healthcare system. His latest call comes as the House Budget Committee takes up a reconciliation bill that paves the way for the legislation, to be sent to the full chamber by the end of the week.

The fierce and escalating battle over health care reform has forced President Barack Obama, seen here with healthcare professionals on March 3, to delay his departure on a trip to Indonesia and Australia by three days until Sunday, March 21.(AFP/File/Saul Loeb)

On Monday in Strongsville, Ohio, Obama criticized the health insurance industry, as he tried to make his case for a revamp of the system. He outlined the abuses by insurers.

Barack Obama said, "We can not have a system that works better for the insurance companies than it does for the American people."

He made an emotional plea by citing the case of a cancer-stricken woman, and his own mother, who died of disease in 1995. Obama said he was trying to outline the significance of adopting the new healthcare plan.

Barack Obama said, "I'm here. I'm here because of my own mother's story. She died of cancer. And in the last six months of her life, she was on the phone in her hospital room arguing with insurance companies instead of focusing on getting well and spending time with her family."