We cannot be distracted by the debate over the public option.  It matters very much to private insurance companies whether the government becomes their competitor, but, for the elderly (and the near-elderly), the key concern is not the public option by the rationing and cuts projected under the program.
During the Clinton Administration, the opposition worked hard to kill the proposed Medicare cuts and we should be no less committed to stopping them in the Obama presidency.  That they were once proposed by the right and are now being pushed by the left makes no difference.  A cut is a cut is a cut.  And Medicare should not be cut. Dig it!