Obama's healthcare plan builds on others' ideas

In a prime-time address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama added just a few new twists to the broad principles he laid out for healthcare reform last winter. In each case he borrowed from the ideas of others, including his former Republican presidential rival, in a bid to build support for passage this fall. The president put a $900 billion, 10-year cost limit on a package that officials formerly described as likely to exceed $1 trillion. The number probably means that Obama could fall short of his goal of providing universal coverage for all Americans because the lower cost may force lawmakers to reduce the subsidies needed to help more uninsured individuals and small businesses seeking coverage for employees, according to the New York Times.