As Senate Democrats try to settle the dispute over the proposed government-run insurance plan, or public option, in a way that can get at least 60 votes, some are looking again at a program that has long tantalized policy makers as a potential model: the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

That is the program that provides insurance coverage to more than eight million federal workers, including members of Congress and their dependents.

A team of 10 Democratic senators tapped by the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, to fashion a last-ditch deal on the public option is now studying the federal employees’ plan as a possible blueprint.

The goal would be to provide a menu of private, nationwide insurance plans. The federal Office of Personnel Management would oversee them, conducting the same type of negotiation over benefits and premium prices that it does for federal workers.

The federal employees health plan offers workers an array of different private insurance plans, including preferred-provider networks and lower-cost HMOs. Several of the plans are national in scope — the most popular is a national Blue Cross plan — and benefits are portable, from state to state, and usually can be carried into retirement.

An easy-to-use Web site allows federal employees to compare the plans available to them.

Although the insurance plans are all private, they have the aura of public insurance because the program is regulated by legislation, is overseen by a federal agency and serves federal workers.

Giving many Americans coverage similar to that of members of Congress is a politically potent — and potentially appealing — concept for both lawmakers and the people they serve.