"They have been doing everything in their power to stop a public option from happening," Pelosi, D-Calif., said. "The public has to know that. They can describe their arguments any way they want, but the fact is they don't want the competition."

A spokesman for the insurance industry responded by calling Pelosi's words mere "political rhetoric" and saying the industry has offered concessions other than a public option.

"Countless physicians, hospitals and employers, and millions of concerned citizens agree that a government-run health care plan will dismantle employer-based coverage, bankrupt local hospitals, and break the promise made to the American people that those who like their health plan can keep it," America's Health Insurance Plans' spokesman Robert Zirkelbach said in a statement.

His complete statement after the jump.