House Democrats consider mandate for employer health insurance

U.S. House Democrats are weighing an expansion of the government's role in healthcare that would include a mandate that employers provide coverage to all full-time workers or pay a percentage of their payroll to the Treasury. Also being considered is a new government-run program to provide health coverage to some of the estimated 46 million uninsured Americans. This "public option" competing with private insurers would likely be run by the Department of Health and Human Services.