Senate Reaches 'Broad Agreement'

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced a “broad agreement” on health care on Tuesday night, and while he was short on specifics, other senators went ahead and filled the press in on the details: The public option is, for all intents and purposes, dead. It could be replaced by a “trigger public option,” which will kick in only if private insurers fail to offer an affordable national health-insurance plan similar to that offer to members of Congress. As compensation to liberals for killing the public option, the agreement will allow for a Medicare buy-in, letting people between the ages of 55 and 64 buy into the program. The Huffington Post reports that the Medicare buy-in could be available as soon as next year.