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 thinks it’s more important to inject competition between insurance plans than it is to create a plan run by the government. Emanuel instead said the White House could back a plan that would “trigger” a public option only if private insurers failed to provide suitable care.