Washington - Representatives of the US healthcare industry on Monday pledged to find savings of more than 2 trillion dollars over the next 10 years in the latest effort to cheapen one of the world's most expensive health care systems.

In a letter to President Barack Obama, representatives of US pharmaceutical companies, insurers, hospitals and others said they could find ways to streamline their practices and reduce the cost of health care by 1.5 per cent annually, or a total of 2 trillion dollars by 2019.

The group provided few details of exactly where the new savings will come from, but US President Barack Obama hopes the industry promise can add some momentum to a wider reform effort of the country's health care system.

Obama has said he wants health care reform legislation, a divisive issue that has eluded past US administrations, to be approved in Congress by the end of this year.

Health care already accounts for more than 17 per cent of US economic output. The industry representatives warned that the number could rise above 20 per cent in 10 years without an effort to cut costs.

"We cannot continue down the same dangerous road we've been traveling for so many years, with costs that are out of control, because reform is not a luxury that can be postponed, but a necessity that cannot wait," Obama was to say after meeting the group later Monday, according prepared remarks released by the White House.