Okay, so Joe Biden is probably not going to be our next President. That said, his health care reform proposal is interesting for a number of reasons.  First and foremost, there is no universal mandate. That said, the plan would still cost between $80 and $110 billion according to the Biden campaign's own estimates.

Most interesting was Biden's argument against a universal mandate: Biden said , in part, that "if Americans are given better health care options they will get coverage. When affordable health care is available, people will buy it, they'll step into it."

That is a commendable philosophy and a sentiment that puts him to the right of his Democratic contenders and even Republican Mitt Romney who signed a universal mandate in Massachusetts. So, how can we make insurance more affordable? Unfortunately, this is where Biden's plan falls apart. Instead of removing government mandates and other regulations that force costs upwards, Biden would massively expand government's role in the provision of health care by expanding SCHIP, Medicaid, and Medicare while creating new rules and regulations governing everything from billing to the use of genetic information.  

I didn't expect much from Senator Biden and he hasn't disappointed me.