Kennedy: Healthcare to be high on agenda

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Universal healthcare may be a key item on the agenda of the 111th U.S. Congress, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., said Monday.

"I'm very hopeful that this will be a prime item on the agenda," Kennedy told reporters. "The (President-elect Barack Obama) ... has indicated that this would be a prime issue, and I -- I believe that it will be."

Kennedy, returning to Washington after having brain surgery during the early summer, said he was looking forward to the lame-duck session that began Monday and working with Obama once he's sworn in as president in January.

"We've got a good team," Kennedy said. "They've been working over the period of the late summer and into the fall and they've been doing a lot of good work and I think we've got a good start on it."