COLUMBIA, S.C. - Presidential hopeful John Edwards said Tuesday he will unveil a health care plan in a few weeks that would add parents to a federal insurance program for children and let people buy Medicare coverage beginning at age 55.

U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri started much of the debate on health care among Democratic presidential candidates last spring by pushing a plan that would require employers to provide insurance and give them a 60 percent tax credit.

Edwards, a Democratic senator from North Carolina, offered a glimpse of his health insurance proposal during an interview with The Associated Press after opening his South Carolina campaign headquarters.

Edwards is probably under pressure to come up with a plan on a traditional Democratic Party issue as others in the race push their proposals, said Winthrop University political science professor Scott Huffmon.

Edwards said about 9 million children don't have health insurance.

To fix that, he wants to expand the current federal Children's Health Insurance Program and provide tax credits to parents to help them buy insurance. The program should expand to provide benefits for the parents, too, Edwards said.

Adding to those programs would force states to spend more money to match what the federal program offers, but Edwards said $50 billion in new federal aid to the states could help cover costs.

"In this era of state budgets bleeding red, I don't see that being enough," Huffmon said. "I don't see that plan getting through Congress."

Edwards also wants to:

_ Allow people 55 and older who don't have health insurance to buy their Medicare coverage at cost while providing subsidies for others who can't afford to pay; the current minimum age requirement is 65. That plan could make sense as employers deal with a sour economy by cutting their highest-paid and oldest workers, Huffmon said.

_ Put public health services into accessible places such as shopping malls.

_ Increase tax incentives for small businesses that provide health coverage for their workers.

Edwards said cost cutting is a huge part of his health care plan, too.

He would begin by "stopping some of the price gouging that's going on; stopping some of the deceptive advertising, direct-to-consumer advertising; (and) closing down the loopholes in the patent system that keep generics out of the market" for prescription drugs.