Nancy-Ann DeParle's definition of 'public' health insurance

When President Obama was on the campaign trail, he pushed the idea of giving consumers the chance to choose among both private and publicly sponsored health-insurance options. One question is whether the new public plan would pay doctors at the same rates that Medicare does—rates many doctors feel are too low. In a media briefing hosted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Nancy-Ann DeParle, who's running the new White House Office of Health Reform, was asked for her own definition of the term "public health insurance." Here, the Wall Street Journal Health Blog provides her answer.