WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The government-run health insurance option favoured by President Barack Obama is not essential to a healthcare overhaul as long as the final measure boosts competition, a top U.S. health official said yesterday.
Health and Human Ser-vices Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said a public insurance option was “not the essential element” of any overhaul, and non-profit cooperatives being considered by a Senate panel could also fulfill the White House goal of creating more competition on insurance.
“I think what’s important is choice and competition, and I’m convinced that at the end of the day the plan will have both of those — but that is not the essential element,” she said of the government-run insurance option on CNN’s “State of the Union” show.
“The president is just continuing to say let’s not have this be the only focus of the conversation,” Sebelius said.
Democratic proposals in Congress for a government-run insurance option have sparked intense opposition from Republicans who argue it would unfairly compete with private plans and would cripple the insurance industry.
The government option has become a key focus of opposition charges that the overhaul, Obama’s top domestic priority, would amount to a government takeover of healthcare.
Six members of the Senate Finance Committee — three from each party — have been negotiating a reform package that would feature member-controlled non-profit cooperatives instead of the government-run plan.
“I think there will be a competitor to private insurers,” Sebelius said. “That’s really the essential part, is you don’t turn over the whole new marketplace to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing.”
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs avoided a direct response when asked if the exclusion of a government-run option would be a deal-breaker for Obama.
