Take a good look at the above headline, because it's a topic that's going to come up quite a bit.
Unfortunately, the "level playing field" public option isn't a level playing field at all, because the plan as it's written now could be sabotaged and destroyed due to "adverse selection" -- the dumping of the sick into the public option, and the subsequent spike in costs and premiums that accompany such a possibility.
Respectfully disagreeing with Tim F., however, the plan shouldn't be dropped because it's flawed. It's a plan that can be fixed after the fact. The most important goal is to get a public option in place. As long as it's there (not a trigger), it can be tweaked. But starting from scratch at a later time might be more difficult with a previous failure diminishing the political will for it.
And maybe this is overly optimistic, but the squeaky wheel always gets the grease. Maybe the fact that it's hobbled will call attention to some fixes.