Bipartisan plan for healthcare

WASHINGTON — Trying to prevent a repeat of the 1990s standoff over healthcare, four former Senate leaders are preparing a plan that combines ideas from both political parties to guarantee coverage for all.

Democrats Tom Daschle and George Mitchell are set to join Republicans Bob Dole and Howard Baker today to reveal a $1.2-trillion proposal that would be paid for with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.

A summary of the plan calls for an individual requirement to carry health insurance, an idea that many Republicans support. But it would also impose new levies on large companies that don’t provide coverage to their workers, an approach preferred by Democrats.