The public option is back — that is, if you believed it had ever really gone away.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid came out from his inner sanctum where just a few are hammering out the legislative text in private, away from the prying eyes of both concerned citizens and even other elected representatives.

That’s troubling.

After all, what incumbents in Washington are doing will restructure more than 17 percent of our nation’s economy. To put that data fact in visual perspective, glance at your own hand.

Today, the health care industry is represented by your smallest finger, the one referred to as our “pinkie” finger.

When the government bureaucrats take control of everyone’s health care, delivery costs will certainly increase. How much? That’s the 64-dollar question.

More importantly, not even the CBO knows for sure; and, the Congressional Budget Office is in the official business of scoring all federal government programs.

Still, here’s our suggestion: Glance back at your hand. Expect total health care costs over the next four to five years to go up to the point that your next longest finger, the “ring” finger, will likely serve to visually represent the dramatic increase in costs and likely share of the nation’s economy.

Yes, the soothsayers will say no. Believe them if you choose.

Some will choose to buy into the political message, and many will quote President Obama’s oft-stated phrase to “bend the cost curve” over the next decade.

But, in the end, costs will rise and rise, and in the future, we will all glance yet again at our hands.

At that point, if not before, vast numbers of Americans will conclude that the next finger in line visually represents what will come to be the exploding costs of government-run health care. Some of us may conclude that the visual, as noted, also suggests something else entirely.

Richard Olivastro is president of Olivastro Communications, a professional member of the National Speakers Association and founder of Citizens For Change. He can be reached at Rich@Olivastro.NET or 877.RichSpeaks.