"The public option would effectively be just another insurance plan offered on the open market. It would likely be administered by a private insurance provider, charging premiums and copayments like any other policy. In an early estimate of the House bill, the Congressional Budget Office forecast that fewer than 12 million people would buy insurance through the government plan."
"Any public plan is likely to have a relatively narrow scope, as it would be offered only to people who don't have access to coverage through an employer."
If that is what ended up in the bill, then I agree that it will be mostly harmless. I was under the impression that anyone would be able to enroll in the public plan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10...