Worst case scenario. Mandates pass without any kind of Public Option. What's left to do then? Obviously the first thing to do would be to agitate and otherwise change the makeup of Congress in order to get what we want. I'm willing to give the President the benefit of the doubt, but just barely. I do this because if a single payer plan came before his desk, I believe he would sign it. That being said, If mandates without the Public Option is the order of the day, what can we, as a community, do to express our displeasure?
Step one is to automatically say "I can't afford insurance". You present your ideal plan, set your price, and when there isn't one, that comes into play. If the hardship subsidy covers all of the plan you want, it's a public option. Especially when millions play this very game. If the hardship subsidy they offer doesn't pay for all of it, say "I can't afford it". Don't buy insurance, and don't pay the fine. Individually, this won't work, but if we get numbers in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, then people owned by the insurance lobby in Washington will sit up and take notice when the insurance companies aren't getting their money.
With that kind of power, we can force a Public Option, or, what's more likely, force the insurance companies to actually provide GOOD plans that are VERY affordable.
The best part? We can tap into the teabaggers. This is "guvmint tellin me what to do and taxing me". And WE'LL get to control that message, because the health lobbies and their underlings like FreedomWorks will say "now you have to buy your plan...lookie at the shinees...".
Once we combine with the teabaggers, then we can guide them to our agenda. This is the hardest part, but with the most reward potential. there are some who agree with us on several things, like bank bailouts and other financial aspects. Once we separate them, we can break the right even further.
Now, if this works, we probably won't get a Public Option or single payer. What we might end up with is a Swiss style system where the health care industry is extremely regulated so that the industry offers universal care.