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Barack Obama, the US president, says his ambitious programme to reform US healthcare would reduce costs and increase choice for people.

But efforts by the president to push through his reforms have sparked a fierce debate throughout the country with angry discussions a common sight at townhalls.

In recent weeks, US conservatives, opposed to Obama's plans, have made outlandish accusations about the healthcare systems in both, the UK and Canada in order to sway their constituents against any kind of government-run option.

US liberals, on the other hand, hold up the the UK and Canada as model systems for ensuring every person is provided for.

The battle in the US over the proposed reforms has become so bitter and so serious that Obama is taking the rare presidential step of addressing a joint session of Congress on Wednesday to try and push his agenda forward.

With millions of US citizens uninsured and healthcare costs rising as much as 12 per cent annually, Riz Khan looks at the systems in the US, UK and Canada and asks if healthcare really is a right or a privilege.

Joining Riz is Lord Ara Darzi of Denham, a former UK health minister, Ujjal Dosanjh, a former Canadian health minister, and Dr. Tevi Troy, a former deputy secretary of the US health department under former president George Bush.