Several years ago, liberals made the decision to refer to a the
idea of a government-run plan as a "public option," because
"public" tests better with people than "government," and the term
"option" emphasizes choice. Evidently, Sen. Jay Rockefeller
doesn't think the term "public option" is very effective, either.
Instead, he calls his version of the government plan a "consumer
choice plan." But a government-run plan by any other name, would
still be a health insurance plan run by the federal government
and designed with the objective to drive private insurers out of
business over time.