It’s time for your health-care-debate news narrative of the day: Obama Administration Won’t Require New Government-Backed Health Plan. Stories on that theme land on the front pages of the WSJ , New York Times and Washington Post . It’s been clear for a while now that the Senate Finance Committee — a key player in the health-reform picture — might not include a new government plan (known as the “public option”) in its health-reform bill. And it’s been clear that, despite the Obama Administration’s support of the public option, the issue wasn’t a dealbreaker for the president (see, for example, the the WSJ story from June headlined “ Obama Open to Health Overhaul Without Public Plan “). Instead of a new government plan, we may wind up seeing private, non-profit insurance co-operatives that are owned by their members. This idea does have

the ring of compromise — it could provide competition for private insurers, as many Democrats want, without creating a new government insurance program, which many Republicans oppose. The co-op idea was the “main option in play” in Senate Finance back in June, the WSJ noted, and we haven’t heard anything since then to suggest that’s change. (But we still haven’t seen a bill from Senate Finance, so nothing’s certain.) Still, the details of any co-op plan remain unclear. Many Dems will be reluctant to abandon the public option. And, even if the Senate does settle on an alternative, something tells us that won’t be the end of the health-care debate. Co-op Bonus : For more on how the co-ops might work, see the WSJ article from June.

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Health Reform Update: Good-Bye Public Option, Hello Co-Ops