Pretty sure most of the people who support the idea of a "public option" do NOT mean they think the not-for-profit government-administered health insurance plan should be available ONLY to a small minority of people, most of whom are poor, unemployed and/or otherwise uninsurable because of "pre-existing conditions."

Trouble is, most of the "public option" plans being proposed in Congress would not be available for most of us to buy into even if we want to. Any insurance plan, including a public not-for-profit one, needs to have a large, diverse pool of insurees to spread the risks and make it viable. That is why a "mandate" to have health insurance is needed -- just as everyone pays into Medicare during their working years.   But a mandate to buy insurance from private, for-profit companies is a whole nuther thing.

I am opposed to health insurance coverage being mandated unless people have the option of buying into viable non-profit and or publicly-administered programs.    I also hope that Congress will NOT pass a highly restricted, weak "public" program that is set up to fail, thus giving the anti-government crowd the example to use to say, "See? Told ya. The government can't run anything well!"