Obama: Healthcare system needs change

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US President Barack Obama has used his weekly address to the nation to try to regain the initiative in the debate over his healthcare reforms. He wants to win over his increasingly vocal critics.

The president said the healthcare system needed changing as it worked "better for the insurance industry than it does for the American people".

Barack Obama, US President, said, "I know that in a time of economic upheaval, the idea of change can be unsettling, and I know that there are folks who believe that government should have no role at all in solving our problems. These are legitimate differences worthy of the real discussion that America deserves - one where we lower our voices, listen to one another, and talk about differences that really exist. Because while there may be disagreements over how to go about it, there is widespread agreement on the urgent need to reform a broken system and finally hold insurance companies accountable."