CHICAGO -- President Barack Obama has made another strong pitch for overhauling the U.S. health care system, calling it "a ticking bomb for the federal budget."
Obama went before the American Medical Association in Chicago Monday to declare that the existing system leaves too many uninsured and forces "excessive defensive medicine" by doctors worried about malpractice suits.
Obama told his audience he is open to requiring all Americans to have health insurance. But he emphasized that the plan he envisions would permit continuing help for those who cannot afford it on their own. Obama said a "health care exchange" would be set up for the uninsured to choose a plan.
Without such change, Obama said the U.S. economy could end up in the same shape as the failed General Motors Corporation and Chrysler.
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