US President Barack Obama has asked the country’s largest doctors’ group to help him reform America’s expensive health care system, making it affordable for millions of uninsured Americans, as he likened the escalating health care costs to a time bomb that may make the country go “broke”.

“I need your help doctors. To most Americans, you are the health care system. Americans ‘me included’ just do what you recommend. That is why I will listen to you and work with you to pursue reform that works for you,” Obama said in Chicago at the annual meeting of the influential American Medical Association (AMA), which represents a quarter of a million doctors.

He said if they work together, they will be able to bring spending down, quality up and save hundreds of billions of dollars on health care costs while making the nation’s health care system work better for patients and doctors alike.

Obama’s nearly hour-long speech to about 2,200 AMA members and guests received numerous standing ovations and was booed once. Terming the escalating cost of health care “a threat to our economy”, Obama said the cost is a burden on US families and businesses.

“It is a ticking time-bomb for the federal budget. And it is unsustainable for the United States of America. If we do not fix our health care system, America may go the way of GM, paying more, getting less and going broke,” he added.

The AMA, on its part said it would cooperate with the President to achieve his goal of providing affordable health insurance to all Americans.

“Like the president, the American Medical Association is committed to covering all Americans. Everybody deserves affordable, high-quality coverage. Over the next days, the AMA will figure out the way it can best help the president reach the goals they share, which is affordable health insurance for all Americans,” AMA President Nancy Nielsen told reporters after Obama’s address.

On Obama’s preference for a government-sponsored health plan that would compete with private insurers, Nielsen said the group is willing to weigh any proposals that come forward and does not categorically oppose the idea of giving Americans the option of a public health plan.

Seeking to garner support for his public option, Obama told the doctors that they should view the public insurance option as a friend and not an enemy.

On the issue of malpractice, Obama said doctors need a system where they can worry less about lawsuits. “I am not advocating caps on malpractice awards, which I personally believe can be unfair to people who’ve been wrongfully harmed,” Obama said.