Obama stages populist battle on health reform

GLENSIDE, Pennsylvania — A fired-up President Barack Obama has turned his populist ire from Wall Street to the insurance sector as he sought to rally support for a last-ditch bid to pass a historic health care overhaul bill.Obama laid a bold bet on Monday with his remaining political capital in an event in metropolitan Philadelphia, painting insurance firms as villains and seeking to win over lawmakers wavering over tough votes crucial to his presidency."I'm kind of fired up," Obama said, reprising 2008 campaign language in an outspoken attack on insurance firms he had once sought to court during his faltering year-long drive to reform the mostly private US health system.Obama is piling pressure on the House of Representatives to back his plan by March 18, before he leaves on a trip to Indonesia and Australia -- a week-long voyage that could drain political momentum from the health care push.He wants the House to ditch legislation it approved in November and pass the Senate's version, coupled with "fixes" to that bill -- but the approach is high-risk as some conservative Democrats oppose it."The United States Congress owes the American people a final up-or-down vote on health care. It's time to make a decision," Obama said in Pennsylvania, a state which helped him claim the presidency in 2008.With millions of Americans lacking coverage, Obama accused insurance giants of making a cynical calculation, that even if rate hikes cost them customers, they could rake in more cash through higher premiums on remaining plan holders."Every year, they drop more people?s coverage when they?re sick and need it most. Every year, they raise premiums higher and higher," Obama said."How much higher do premiums have to rise until we do something about it? How many more Americans have to lose their health insurance?"Obama positioned himself as a crusading reformer on the side of the people, and slammed knee-jerk pundits obsessed with the "sport" of politics in Washington, oblivious to the suffering of heartland Americans.His

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