Barack Obama has promised major changes to U.S. health care, pledging to create a new national health plan, similar to Medicare, for the uninsured and small businesses. The health care system is in need of a serious makeover and Obama has repeatedly told Americans that he was ready to take on the responsibility of changing the face of the health-care system.

Obama’s plan is based on the idea of expanding government health care. The Tax Policy Center says the Obama plan would reduce the number of uninsured by 18 million in the first full year of operation, from the current figure of 45 million.

Barack Obama has promised to make health insurance affordable to as many Americans as possible by having the government subsidize the cost of coverage for low- and middle-income families. He would also mandate that children have health insurance, and he would expand who can participate in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Moreover, he will require all large or medium companies provide health care plans for their employees. He plans to create a national insurance program to support individuals who do not have employer-provided health care and who don’t meet the criteria for the existing federal programs. Obama targets medium and large companies where paying taxes is concerned, asking them to pour money into a fund for the uninsured if they do not wish to provide their employees with health-care coverage.

Polls have shown that for voters, health care reform is the third biggest concern, after the economy and the war in Iraq. Skeptics wonder where Obama would find the money for the plan, as it would cost an estimated $1.6 trillion over 10 years, according to the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan tax analysis group.