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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard all kinds of speculation about the proposed health care bill and the controversial public option. With President Obama determined to find an answer to the unacceptable challenge of affordable health care in the United States, the idea of a public option for government assisted health care coverage has seen plenty of debate in Congress and on the streets of America.

The public option has referred to several different specific ideas, but in general terms, has been related to the idea of the federal government picking up the tab for health insurance for Americans who cannot afford to pay premiums for private insurance. Some of the sticking points in the discussion have included whether the government is mandated to provide health care coverage to everyone and whether that coverage should extend to only legal citizens of the US or the untold numbers of illegal aliens who also live in the country.

The debate over health care coverage has stirred up everyday citizens across the country as well as members of Congress on both sides of the political arena. While party lines were certainly visible in the debate, not all Democrats are fully behind the President’s suggestions. In typical fashion, however, the man in the White House has voiced his thoughts and urged Congress to hammer out the answer- and he wants that answer ASAP.

The current plan being proposed by Democrats is being slammed as too expensive by most Republicans, who are trying to remove a proposal to expand Medicare benefits to Americans as young as 55 years old. Most Republicans are also determined to remove the public option of the bill, which has some Democrats in an uproar. Howard Dean, former Democratic presidential candidate from Vermont was extremely verbal in his opposition to to the proposed Senate bill saying it amounted to an insurance company bailout by requiring most Americans to carry insurance and also allowing private insurance companies the right to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, while also charging older Americans more money for their coverage.

So where does the health care coverage debate stand now? It appears the public option is definitely out and the idea of expanding Medicare is facing the chopping block as well. As Christmas looms right around the corner, it seems unlikely that unofficial deadline will not be made. In other words, the promise and prediction of sweeping health care reform in America is still a promise, with little clarity on what the actual reality will look like in the end, whenever that comes.