ST. CHARLES, Mo. (March 10, 2010)--President Barack Obama said Wednesday in Missouri the time for talk is over and that Congress needs to take an up-or-down vote on health care reform.

Mr. Obama made his latest pitch for the overhaul during a rally Wednesday at a high school in suburban St. Louis.

The president also denounced waste, inefficiency and downright fraud in the government's health care system.

He said improper payments cost taxpayers almost $100 billion last year alone and called for approval of an anti-fraud plan that would bring in high-tech bounty hunters to help root out health care abuses.

The proposal has bipartisan backing.

The White House wants Congress to act on the legislation by March 18, when the president leaves on a trip to Indonesia and Australia.