Public option may be healthcare bill's highest hurdle in Senate

The "public option" has emerged as the crux of the unfolding debate over healthcare reform, and is perhaps the greatest challenge for the Senate negotiators attempting to reach a compromise that could actually become law. The notion of disrupting the private insurance market by injecting federal competition has stoked passions on both sides and created the kind of wedge that President Obama and Democratic leaders had sought to avoid in the debate, says this article from the Washington Post.