HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell is expected to unveil a health care reform plan today aimed at reducing costs in the health care system and making affordable coverage available to nearly 1 million uninsured Pennsylvanians.

In his second-term inaugural address yesterday, Mr. Rendell said he would announce details of "a comprehensive initiative to make health care affordable for all our citizens, while also boosting the competitiveness of businesses statewide by reducing the crushing burden of spiraling health care costs."

During his 15-minute address in a ceremony outside the Capitol, Mr. Rendell said his health care proposal, called "Prescription for Pennsylvania," will kick off an agenda for his second term that he plans to announce fully within 30 days.

"We will start with a major new plan for health care reform," said the governor, after being sworn into office for a second four-year term by his wife, federal Judge Marjorie "Midge" Rendell.

Mr. Rendell gave no new details about the proposal, which has been under development for months. But he has said earlier that he wants to offer affordable coverage to adults, who make up most of the state's uninsured population, through a plan similar to an earlier proposal he made to expand coverage for children.

That proposal, Cover All Kids, is awaiting final federal approval.

It calls for subsidizing coverage for children from low-income families and making coverage available to other children for fees based on family income.

In Pennsylvania, about 900,000 people lacked health insurance in 2004, and many were adults who worked full-time, according to the state Insurance Department. Census bureau data indicate that even more Pennsylvanians may be uninsured.

Mr. Rendell has suggested that health care costs might be reduced in part by seeking to limit the expensive, even life-threatening infections that patients acquire in hospitals.

He also favors other initiatives to cut costs or improve access to care, including the lifting of certain restrictions on the type of work done by nurse practitioners.

Many other states are considering proposals to broaden access to health care. Last year, Massachusetts lawmakers approved a plan that would require most residents to obtain coverage or face penalties. Subsidized coverage would be provided for people with low incomes.

After unveiling his health plan here today, Mr. Rendell plans to make a statewide blitz aimed at selling it to the Legislature, starting with stops in Philadelphia tomorrow and Pittsburgh on Friday.

Rep. Don Walko, D-North Side, said he did not know details of Mr. Rendell's proposal. But he said that expanding the authority of nurse practitioners could "be very contentious" with legislators.

Spiraling health care costs are a pressing reason for reform, Mr. Walko said. "We can't afford to keep going on the way we are now."

But how costs would be paid under a plan to increase affordable coverage also could be an issue, he said.

House Speaker Dennis O'Brien, R-Philadelphia, said he did not have an estimate on the cost of the governor's proposal and did not know how difficult it might be to win legislative approval.

"Health care is always an issue that's difficult to get your arms around," he said.

But the fact that the governor "has launched an ambitious discussion of health care serves the people of the commonwealth well," he said.