The chances that a viable government insurance plan will be passed are sinking by the day as legislators continue jockeying for support in their respective quarters.

Only a few weeks ago, progressive health-care reform seemed like a foregone conclusion. The so-called public plan—a government-operated insurance option championed by President Obama and other prominent Democrats—was to be the legislation’s central program.

President Obama has continued to affirm his support of the development of a government-sponsored health insurance program, yet he admitted that the plan would affect potential Republican support for the legislation aimed at restructuring the health care system.