Obamacare’s failure to cover everyone is seemingly the only ACA failure its supporters are comfortable talking about. We’ve noted before that for those who support a public option or a single payer system, some Obamacare’s flaws are actually features, not bugs. If the ACA both succeeds and fails in the right kinds of ways—if it lowers prices, but doesn’t fully expand access—these wonks believe they can make a case for supplementing Obamacare’s reform with even more government regulation and control. Obamacare worked and now we just need more of it.

Expect left-of-center health care writers to more and more ask “what’s next?” and execute the single-payer pivot as the answer.