In keeping with the established tradition of inaugural addresses, Joe Biden’s speech on Wednesday was heavy on adornment and light on specifics — closer to high mass than a press conference or policy brief. One line, however, provided a somewhat ominous clue as to how the new administration expects to move on a critical policy area, namely health care reform: “We can reward work, rebuild the middle class,” Biden declared from atop the inaugural platform, “and make health care secure for all.”

As anyone who has followed the broader health care debate closely should instantly recognize, words like “secure” often signal distance from any ambitious reform effort. Like “affordability” or “access,” it’s the sort of vague conceit centrist Democrats like to invoke in lieu of embracing transformative or clearly articulated policy ideas. Biden, unlike his vice president, has never even pretended to support a Medicare for All, single-payer system as an alternative to America’s broken status quo — even telling one interviewer last spring that he would veto M4A legislation even if it passed both the House and the Senate.

Nevertheless, Biden’s campaign officially committed him to pursuing a public option (that is, a nonmandatory government-run alternative to privately provided health insurance, for which most people would qualify). If nothing else, such a course would represent a break with the current model and, depending on the details, could result in a more than negligible improvement. Biden’s plan, at least as written on his still-active campaign website, is not without some very obvious problems. For one thing, even if implemented to the tee, it would still leave roughly ten million people uninsured. As Libby Watson explained last October, significant questions also remain unanswered about how the public option would work in practice — its actual mechanics being incredibly vague.