WE'RE ALMOST THERE... And to close out my health wonkery for the day (I can hear the TAP readership breathing out a sigh of relief), judging from Jacob Hacker's new piece and David Cutler's posted explanations, Obama's plan is evolving in positive directions since it was first announced. The public insurance program appears to have been elevated to a place of larger centrality and wider relevance -- in the first days of the plan, there was reluctance to see it as a broad alternative to the private market, or suggest that it could be an insurer of first resort for employers or individuals. Of importance too is their pay-or-play mechanisms (always in the plan, to be sure), which force automatic coverage of just about everyone in the workforce. In my piece last week, I described it as a plan of "almosts," so I'm happy to say that it's getting closer with each passing day. --Ezra Klein
