BOSTON -- President-elect Barack Obama has promised to reform healthcare. His plan has similarities to Massachusetts' landmark health care law. NewsCenter 5's Liz Brunner explains.

Health Care System Needs Fixing, Obama Says

"We've got to fix our health care system," said Obama.

During the presidential campaign, when it came to health care, Obama stressed that he wanted to reshape the current system.

"Under my plan, there will not be a single person in America that wants health insurance and cannot get it," he said.

What Obama wants to do is create a federally sponsored health care plan to make it affordable for people who can't afford health care. It would would mandate coverage for every child.

"Every body should be getting regular check-ups. Everybody should be screenings. Every child should have a primary care physician," he said.

The plan sounds a lot like Massachusetts landmark health care law. But Obama's plan is a little different. The state law requires everyone to have health insurance.

"It's very similar to what we've done in Massachusetts; really trying to get not universal coverage, but near universal coverage," said Jarrett Barrios, president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.

The foundation Barrios is in charge of helps promote health care coverage in the state.

"The Massachusetts reform has been a success," he said.

Since the law passed, the number of uninsured among working-aged people in Massachusetts has been cut in half, to just 6 percent. But nationwide, about 18 percent of Americans don't have insurance. The high uninsured rate could be a challenge for Obama's health care plan.

"We have mechanisms to enroll individuals through non-profit advocacy groups through health centers," Barrios said. "How do you reach all the people who you are mandating get health care coverage. How do you make sure they get enrolled. How do you help them understand what the process of enrolling is?"