In his weekly radio address on Saturday, U.S. President Barack Obama promised that Americans will begin seeing the benefits of healthcare reform as early as this year.  The somewhat premature promise comes as Congress is still attempting to iron out a final version of its much debated overhaul of the country’s health system.

Though the President acknowledged that it would likely be several years before all of the bill’s reforms begin to take effect in full, he reassured the public that many of the benefits will be noticeable almost immediately.

“What every American should know is that once I sign health insurance reform into law, there are dozens of protections and benefits that will take effect this year,” he told the country in his Roosevelt-styled weekly pep talk.

Despite the fact that both branches of Congress have managed to push through major healthcare reform legislation, the two proposed versions of the bill differ significantly from each other on a number of major points—and the two versions will have to be reconciled with one another before a final version can sent to Obama for his signature.

The Senate, for example, opted to remove the highly controversial “public option,” which would have established an additional government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers.  The plan had to be nixed in order to lure back a number of moderate Democrats who were needed to secure the 60 votes required for passage of the bill.

The issue of how to finance the bill has also been a major stumbling block for various factions within the Democratic party, while the question of whether Americans will purchase coverage from a federal or state-level exchange system has also proven contentious.

Despite their differences, however, both the Senate and the House proposals aim to cover some 30 million of the roughly 36 million Americans who currently do not have health insurance as well as to mandate that insurance companies cover patients with preexisting health conditions.

Both versions also claim to reduce the overall costs of healthcare in America, although a number of independent economists have challenged the calculations used to support these claims.

Despite the political hullabaloo, Obama has remained characteristically optimistic about the fate of the healthcare legislation, saying on Saturday that Congress was “on the verge of passing health insurance reform that will finally offer Americans the security of knowing they’ll have quality, affordable health care whether they lose their job, change jobs, move, or get sick.”

He also mentioned that children with pre-existing conditions will never be denied coverage under the legislation and that small business owners would be given tax-breaks to help cover their employees.  In addition, insurance companies will also have to begin offering free preventive care to their customers.

“All told, these changes represent the most sweeping reforms and toughest restrictions on insurance companies that this country has ever known,” boasted Obama, who some have described as the most progressive president in American history.

“That’s how we’ll make 2010 a healthier and more secure year for every American—for those who have health insurance, and those who don’t.”

On average, the United States spends more than twice as much on health care per year than Germany, England or France.  While many have blamed unscrupulous business practices by insurance and pharmaceutical companies for the astronomical costs of healthcare in America, others have contended that heavy federal regulations and government protection and favors to preferred insurance giants are actually to blame.