READY OR NOT. With the reentry of Democrats into the halls of power, the insurance industry is getting anxious. Aware that the current system is in a slow-motion collapse and Democrats answer to, in part, the very people it's collapsing atop, the industry's trade group is proposing its own plan for universal coverage. The details aren't terribly important (nor terribly good); like socks on your birthday, it's the thought that matters. And the insurers are thinking that something is going to be done in the nearish term, and they'd best start getting out in front. Now that they're arguing for the necessity of universal coverage and the unions have abandoned hope in the employer-based system and Republican presidential aspirant Mitt Romney is running on his own universal health proposal, this debate is getting kicked rather far to the left. Are the Democrats ready?
--Ezra Klein
