Obama Unveils Health-Reform Plan

The White House released its own health-care reform proposal on Monday. A few things are notable: It lacks a public option; the so-called Cadillac tax on expensive health plans will be delayed for union-negotiated plans until 2018; it gives the federal government the power to roll back exorbitant rate hikes by insurance companies; it eliminates the “Cornhusker kickback,” the unpopular giveaway to Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson; and it fully closes the “donut hole” for Medicare prescription drug beneficiaries by 2020. The price tag is $950 billion--more than the Senate bill, but less than the House.