White House ducks public option question

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's spokesman Tuesday refused to say whether the president would draw "a line in the sand" over the public health insurance option.

The public option has been a keystone of Obama's healthcare reform proposals, but analysts have been sifting his comments for several weeks to see if he is softening his stance on requiring it.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked "if (the president) supports (the public option), why won't he draw a line in the sand over it" when making a major healthcare address to a joint session of Congress Wednesday night?

And what about liberals in Congress who are demanding the public option?

"I think I would reiterate what a number of us said over the weekend, and that is the president continues to believe that increasing choice and competition through additional options for people to get health insurance is tremendously important," Gibbs said, not answering the questions directly.

"I think what you'll hear the president talk about, again, is sort of what we talked about over the weekend. Understanding what the public option is and what the public option isn't ... for the vast majority of Americans that get their insurance primarily through their employer or if they're on Medicare, Medicaid or receive their healthcare through the (Veterans Administration), the public option is not going to impact your healthcare."