Krugman today:

The Case for a Medicare Buy-In Option
Mandates vs options: The good, the bad, and the feasible
paulkrugman.substack.com - The case for a medicare buy in option

That said, a rapid transition to Medicare for All looks unlikely. Bear in mind that such a transition would require higher taxes, so that it would be necessary to persuade people that these taxes would be more than offset by lower premiums. And this would be a hard sell.

But there is an alternative: A public option, better described as Medicare Buy-In.

I'm kind of surprised that Paul Krugman, of all people, would make such a suggestion. Our health care system is already Byzantine. Making it even more complicated and convoluted is not a good answer. Yes, reforming the system is difficult and would run into huge opposition from entrenched corporate interests. But we need to stop thinking like neo-liberal corporatists.

I think the solution should be for employers to stop paying corporations for employees' health care insurance premiums and pay the same amounts instead into a single-payer system, i.e. a corporate payroll tax equal to what is currently paid to insurers. Cut out the middle men. That's where the savings will be. A voluntary buy-in system doesn't address the key need to cover *everyone*.