The bill is the brainchild of Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. The elements of the plan are described here, with more eloquence than I could muster, by Slate’s Jacob Weisberg: (the quotes are direct, but I’ve organized them into a list):

Under Wyden's plan:

1. “Employers would no longer provide health coverage … they'd convert the current cost of coverage into additional salary for employees.”
2. “Individuals would use the additional salary to buy insurance, which they would be required to have.”
3. “Private insurance plans would compete on features and price but would have to offer benefits at least equivalent to the Blue Cross "standard" option.”
4. “Signing up for insurance would be as easy as ticking off a box on your tax return. In most cases, insurance premiums would be withheld from paychecks, as they are now.”
5. ”Getting rid of the employer tax deduction, which costs a whopping $200 billion a year, would free up funds to subsidize insurance up to 400 percent of the poverty line, which is $82,000 for a family of four.”

The most radical aspect of this plan is that it severs the connection between health care and employers—a connection that Weisberg says has been around since WWII. Unlike other plans for universal coverage, however, it still has private health insurers playing a leading role.

So what do you think? Could this thing fly?