Burr's face on GOP health plan

The proposal, similar to McCain's, may be a political lift, but some say it's the same-old.

WASHINGTON (The News & Observer) - U.S. Sen. Richard Burr plunged Wednesday into one of the thorniest political issues of the year, taking a lead in introducing a Republican alternative to President Barack Obama's plans to overhaul the nation's health-care system.

The GOP proposal and Obama's ideas both aim to cover more workers, but they have different approaches.

The Republican plan would tax health- care benefits that workers receive. But it would then give tax credits to families to buy their own health insurance on the free market.