Health-plan concession criticizedSFlb

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s weekend concession on a health-care “government option” drew complaints from liberals and scarce interest from Republicans and other critics on Monday, a fresh sign of the daunting challenge in finding middle ground in an increasingly partisan political struggle.

The White House insisted there had been no shift in position, adding the president still favors a federal option for the sale of health insurance. “The bottom line is this: Nothing has changed,” said a memo containing suggested answers for administration allies to use if asked about the issue.

But some supporters of health- care overhaul sounded less than reassured.

“You really can’t do health reform” without allowing the government to compete with private insurers, said Howard Dean, a former Democratic Party chairman. “Let’s not say we’re doing health reform without a public option,” he added in a slap at the administration’s latest move.

His remarks were echoed by lawmakers as well as AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, who said the option was the only way to force “real competition” on the insurance industry.

Obama and his top aides signaled retreat over the weekend on proposals for a provision under which consumers could choose from health-insurance policies sold by the federal government as well as those marketed by private companies. “All I’m saying is, though, that the public option, whether we have it or we don’t have it, is not the entirety of health-care reform,” the president told a town hall-style audience in Grand Junction, Colo., on Saturday. “This is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it.”

The government option has emerged as one of the most contentious elements of legislation taking shape in Congress.