JeSoul:

The Mass "Public Option" is not really a public option in the literal sense and I don't think many people know this. There is no "government plan" that people can choose to buy from. What we have is the MA Health Connector which is pretty much a collection of private market-based insurance companies/plans that give people different options.  (I think I'll open a new thread as many people are not aware of this).

Public Plan Choice defined
Promoting choice among health insurance plans to reform a dysfunctional health insurance market is an idea that has been around for decades. The Heritage Foundation has long advocated health reform modeled on the choices in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, which provides health insurance to federal employees. Stanford University public policy professor Alain Enthoven has been advocating a similar, though structured, health purchasing arrangement for almost as long through “managed competition.”

The concept gained new life and bipartisan support in Massachusetts in 2006 when that state introduced health reform in an effort to cover all those under the age of 64 (when Medicare coverage kicks in). The Massachusetts plan relies on a so-called “connector” that connects consumers to a choice of health plans to help create a more rationale marketplace for the purchase of health insurance.

Then, in the 2008 presidential contest, competing health reform plans among the Democratic candidates, beginning with former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, were thoroughly debated. These plans—building on work done by academics such as University of California professors Jacob Hacker and Helen Halpin (who worked separately) and at the Urban Institute—proposed to add a public health plan option as a competitor in a new health insurance exchange. This idea has been part of President Barack Obama’s ideas to improve health care coverage in our country, revive our economy, rein in health care costs, and boost innovation.

Key to the Massachusetts reform and President Obama’s health reform proposal is the establishment of a connector (Massachusetts) or exchange (Obama’s campaign plan) that offers a range of health plans side-by-side and that meets standards about who they must serve, what services they must cover, and how much they can charge. Put simply, the rules will specify the benefits that insurers must offer and require insurers to accept everyone who applies at a similar premium, regardless of an applicant’s health status.