AP: The Democrats with Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor in the lead have agreed to jettison the public option. People 55 to 64 would be able to buy into Medicare. But the public option is still not entirely gone.

The problem with shifting more people to Medicare is that many doctors refuse to treat Medicare patients because Medicare pays too little. I've encountered this problem myself. 

See the NYT story. Olympia Snowe is not happy. See the votes here.