providing prescription coverage to seniors was hardly nothing. Whether or not it was a good plan is arguable but it really can’t be called nothing. I know it had a significant impact in my mother-in-laws life.

As for the buying insurance across state lines thing that has more to do with how the insurance is set up then it does with where the insurance is being managed from. When I worked for Lockheed Martin the people who lived in Louisiana has more choices and better insurance then those who lived in Mississippi. Same company, same job, we all actually worked in Mississippi but insurance cost about 30% more when you crossed the Pearl River and there was almost no one offering it.

One of the arguments for a public option was that it provided competition in states like Mississippi where there are only a couple of companies offering insurance. So the democratic solution is to create a false economy with a government "competition" instead of simply opening the market up. The idea that a government sponsored entity is the way to provide free market competition leads credence to those who use call them socialist
.