Health care issues: The 'trigger' public plan

A look at key issues in the health care debate:

THE ISSUE: Would a so-called "trigger" or "fallback" public plan win enough votes to get some sort of government-run insurance option in any health care legislation Congress may pass?

THE POLITICS: The trigger option is seen as a possible compromise that would replace the idea of allowing the government to sell insurance in competition with private insurance. Many Democrats want the so-called public option but Republicans oppose it. The idea is that a public plan would kick in, or be triggered, only if private insurers fail to meet targets for providing affordable policies. Republican …