Excellent survey of existing "public options" and their costs versus benefits. While nothing in this story ties the programs discussed explicitly to the proposals in Congress, the comparisons are enlightening. Highly recommended.

Informative report on existing public options for health insurance in the United States, such as Tricare, Veterans Administration, Medicare and Medicaid. This short and impartial article provides useful facts on a half-dozen government insurance programs, detailing the good, the bad and the ugly for each of them. A helpful read that offers some perspective on the health care reform bill being debated in Congress.

This is a very basic and clear description of various government health plans, which provides a good thumbnail sketch but also a very superficial look at the programs. Forcing the good, bad and ugly format on the report tends to oversimplify the issues. Important considerations missing from this concise overview are indicators of patient satisfaction and health intervention outcomes--both key ingredients to measure a program's success. And the headline is misleading--I was looking ... More »

This is quality journalism because the piece provides well written, simply stated, factual data on various government -run heath care programs, that are already in existance. It also ranks them good,bad or ugly.