The Public Option Might Be Dead

Jillian Bandes | December 09, 2009 9:09 AM

Sen. Harry Reid is still calling it the public option, but observers say the new plan he has cooked up looks nothing like it. The government-run proposal is expected to be replaced with something that might resemble the

Federal Employee Health Benefits Program — which only loosely regulates insurance companies, and could perhaps provide subsidies to purchase insurance policies from them. It's also been reported that this new plan will expand Medicare to those 55 and older.

The plan hasn't been evaluated by Congressional Budget Office for its cost analysis, which means everything in the current health care negotiations. But if Reid just announced this plan, it means he probably has his 60-vote consensus on it. We'll just have to wait and see. Here's Reid: