WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - President Barack Obama will urge insurance companies at a meeting on Friday to offer quickly to renew healthcare policies that were canceled because they did not meet standards in the new Obamacare program, the White House said.

Obama will also discuss with chief executives ways that insurance companies can help Americans meet the deadlines to sign up for new health care insurance - now more important because of problems with the HealthCare.gov website.

"We'll talk about ways we can work together to help people enroll through the marketplace and efforts we can make to minimize disruption for consumers as they transition to new coverage," White House spokesman Mr Jay Carney told reporters.