Just establish Medicare Part -P (for public option)

[jasi2006]

And let the chips fall where they may. Make Medicare Part P include option for small business participation, portability, and same stuff as Medicare. Require that every citizen have medical care coverage from over a wide variety of coverage options with and established basic plan that must include certain basic coverage requirements. Fine people who don't get the coverage for themselves and their children (if they have children under 21) Fines should be paid and collected by state MVAs. No pay, no license, no tags. Let the states use collections to add coverage to their state-rn Medicaid systems. Make deductabls higher for the wealthy...a progressive deductable or all other insurance companies. (when is a tax not a tax?...when it's a deductable). Use a simple, universal insurance payment statement for hospital stays and doctor appointments so patients can easily see if their providers are gaming the system or committing fraud...this would also make tracking care and care costs much easier. Providers committing fraud or other abuses should be fined heavily and in really bad cases...shut down. Lots of other ideas but too many to go into detail here. But something needs to be done and done quickly!

[madrchsod]

1. never going to happen.

the house and senate would have to get approval from their sponsors.

[frazzled]

2. But you have to be 65 to qualify for Medicare

Changing the rules for that would be the purview of the dreaded Baucus finance committee. Plus the whole Senate eventually. So you aren't really gaining anything in terms of the politics with this plan.

Medicare rules would have to be totally overhauled to allow businesses to buy in and to change the age requirements, etc. This isn't an add-on to Medicare: it's just the public plan, but tied to Medicare rates, presumably. Which would be a good thing: but that didn't even pass the House.