Health Care Reform: What's the difference between "the public option" and Medicare for All?

The opponents of reform have sown considerable confusion about the differences between single-payer health care -- Medicare for All -- and the various health care reform alternatives, including the so-called public option, being debated in the House and Senate. Here are some more resources to help clarify the difference:
Report Card for Single-Payer and “Public Option” (pdf)
More of the Same Is Not Health Care Reform, It’s a Placebo by Leonard Rodberg, PhD
Hold out for single payer by Nick Skala
Bait and switch: How the “public option” was sold by Kip Sullivan
The “Public Plan Option”: Myths and Facts
Health Policy Q & A with PNHP Co-founders Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler (pdf)
Tell them why they’re wrong when they say single-payer is not politically viable! (pdf)
Dr. Len Rodberg, of Physicians for a National Health Program, made a great presentation on single-payer and the public option at a teach-in in New York City. Download Len Rodberg’s slide show (ppt)

And here's a rap kicker.
It's not over 'til it's over. Contact your representatives and let them know you want Medicare for All.

Sonameme further reading about the public option:
Trigger Happy (Time 2009-11-18)
One-Two Punch: Unemployed and Uninsured (Families USA 2009-10)
The House Public Plan: Yes, It's Worth It (The New Republic 2009-11-05)
Trigger Unhappy: What Experience Can Teach Us About Why We Should Not Delay the Implementation of Public Plan Choice by Timothy Stoltzfus Jost (Washington and Lee University)
Trigger Unhappy (The New Republic 2009-11-22)