Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said President Barack Obama's plan to create a government-run health insurance program would bring competition to private insurers and lower healthcare costs nationwide. Sebelius said that in many markets, private insurers currently have no competitors, giving them wide latitude to raise premiums on customers. She said a government-run option, as long as it followed the same rules as private providers, would force such insurers to lower prices to keep existing customers.