We won’t get “Medicare for everyone” in the current healthcare bill, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich may vote “no” because of that. And we may not even get a public option–even a watered-down version. But Kucinich’s basic premise of expanding Medicare–an idea that has been variously ignored, vilified and even laughed-at–refuses to die.\u00a0 After all, Medicare\u00a0(along with the Veterans Administration<\/a> health care program) is\u00a0a government-run program that\u00a0works–with lower overhead costs and higher customer satisfaction <\/a>that almost any privately run healthcare insurance program.<\/p>\n So, if we can’t get Medicare for all, how about “Medicare for more?” \u00a0That’s what Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)<\/a> is proposing in a bill he introduced on Tuesday. He calls his bill, H.R. 4789<\/a>, the “Public Option\u00a0Act,” and he’s also calling it the “Medicare You Can Buy Into Act.”\u00a0 The bill would allow all legal residents under 65 to enroll in Medicare by paying a fee.<\/p>\n Grayson’s approach offers a “workaround” for the absence of a public option in the much larger healthcare reform bill currently up for grabs in Congress. It’s a small step forward, in the spirit of the great incrementalist, Teddy Kennedy. <\/a>It deserves consideration.<\/p>\n