The bill requires the secretary to negotiate prices with the manufacturers of drugs covered by the government-run plans.

But it would also create a government-run plan of last resort that is cynically configured to drive private plans out of existence.

I am not sure if the private sector could handle it, but a government-run plan could also prove to be less than efficient.

Like the Clinton plan, the Roth formulation would not need to raise premiums in the government-run fee-for-service plan faster than planned under current law except to cover the cost of additional drug coverage.

Americans deserve a health care system that puts individuals back in charge of their health care, rather than a government-run plan that puts bureaucrats between doctors and patients.

The proposals would hurt the company by "causing tens of millions of Americans to lose their private coverage and end up in a government-run plan."

That is mainly, they say, because none of the other possibilities, like a government-run plan or some new private-sector solution, have enough support to serve as a replacement.

Making sense of Medicare, the government-run health-insurance plan for people age 65 and older, isn't easy.

A clear majority of Democratic senators favor a government-run plan.

That bill does not include a government-run plan, though bills approved in July by the Senate health committee and by three House committees do include it.