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US President Barack Obama will hold a televised, summit-style meeting to discuss healthcare reform with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

Speaking on CBS News, he said the discussions would aim to explore the "best ideas", "step-by-step".

Senate Republic leader Mitch McConnell said "shelving" the bill would be the best way to reach consensus.

Mr Obama made has made healthcare a centrepiece of his presidency but has so far failed to get a new law enacted.

The loss of a Senate seat in Massachusetts in January to Republican Scott Brown deprived the Democrats of their filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate.

"If we can go step-by-step through a series of these issues and arrive at some agreements, then procedurally there's no reason why we can't do it a lot faster than the process took last year," Mr Obama said in an interview broadcast in peak time just before the annual Super Bowl American football match. - BBC