Reading the recced diary of NYCEVE and there's a bit of debate about the reality of getting a Public Option.
For all intensive purposes it is dead.
The real issue is what needs fixing in the Senate bill and what can realistically get passed via reconciliation to get the House to vote for it.
My thoughts are (1) drop the excise tax, since I don't see how it will really control costs, unless people with good insurance plans are all just hypochondriacs and (2) revisit some sort of transaction tax or the 1% tax on millionaires in the House bill to pay for it.
I'd also through in some sort of national exchange or national standards state exchanges have to comply with for individual coverage and small group coverage.
To me this is tricky because what seems necessary for one group is a risk for another.
But a more constructive use of time for grass-roots groups to focus on is what we would think needs fixing in the Senate bill and what the Senate has the ability to pass via reconciliation.
We're very close to having the biggest reform of health care, since Medicare was passed in 1965. Let's give the final push.