Obama to push health-care compromise

President Barack Obama gestures at the Blair House in Washington during a meeting with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders last week to discuss health-care reform. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press)

U.S. President Barack Obama is unveiling at the White House on Wednesday a revised version of his health-care legislation that may include a number of Republican proposals.

Obama is expected to lay out his final package for long-discussed health-care reform in the U.S. and urge Congress to act swiftly to pass the legislation.

As with bills currently stalled before the House of Representatives and the Senate, the proposal is expected to require most Americans to carry health insurance coverage and bar insurance companies from denying coverage to people with medical problems or charging them more.

It would not include a publicly run insurance plan, however, but would allow the government to cap health insurance premiums "if a rate increase is unreasonable and unjustified."

A version of the proposed legislation posted on the White House website on Monday says it will insure more than 31 million Americans who cannot afford health insurance and reduce the U.S. deficit over the next 10 years by $100 billion.

Obama's afternoon speech will come a day after he sent letter to congressional leaders saying he was open to incorporating four Republican ideas into his proposal.