Another healthcare reform idea

According to a recent Gallup poll, a whopping 69% of Americans think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have health care coverage. That number is the highest it's been since they started polling that question in the beginning of 2000. No doubt that number has risen as healthcare costs have skyrocketed and the number of uninsured has risen in just the last couple of years. Of course, I support universal healthcare, but the important thing to me is that working reform to this crisis is implemented, no matter where it comes from or in what form. While reading that private HMOs cost more to Medicare, I stumbled upon a proposal by one Jacob S. Hacker that would create a "Medicare Plus" option and given employers the choice of either enrolling their employees in a private plan or paying a modest payroll contribution to place them in the new program. The basic details are laid out here and further explored in an article co-written by Hacker here. Anyway, in the very least, it's definitely a well-thought proposal I recommend everyone who cares about the issue look into it.