The public option was itself a compromise, a moderation of the single-payer model — is that right?
That’s right. I thought very much of it as threading the needle between the idea of Medicare for all on the one hand, and a truly private system on the other that would be built on tax credits for individuals. And indeed, when I first presented my proposals in 2001, I called it “Medicare Plus,” the idea being there would be a new Medicare-like program that would be offered to people who didn’t get coverage from employers, and employers would get the option of offering it or helping to pay for it. If they wanted to opt out altogether, they could do that. That’s one of the things that should be emphasized: The idea is not to take choices away from people but make sure that for people who really don’t have choices today — either because their employer doesn’t offer coverage or their employer doesn’t offer coverage that has reasonable options –there would be something else out there that would be available. Why do you think it’s so hard to pass health care reform in this country? The mos
