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July 8, 2009

Obama Defends Commitment to Public Health Option
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President Obama has issued a vague response to criticism his
administration is backing away from its advocacy of a government-run
public health insurance program. On Tuesday, Obama released a statement
saying: “I] still believe… that one of the best ways to bring down
costs, provide more choices, and assure quality is a public option that
will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest. I
look forward to a final product that achieves these very important
goals.” The statement came hours after White House Chief of Staff Rahm
Emanuel told the Wall Street Journal he think it’s more important to
inject competition between insurance plans than it is to create a plan
run by the government. Emmanuel instead said the White House could back
a plan that would “trigger” a public option only if private insurers
failed to provide suitable care.



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