President Barack Obama's administration has signalled that its healthcare reforms may be diluted, amid pressure from opponents.
Mr Obama has been pressing for a government-run scheme to extend healthcare insurance to some 46 million people in the US.
But Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that this had never been Mr Obama's top priority.
She hinted that he may accept the idea of non-profit insurance co-operatives.
In an interview with CNN, Ms Sebelius said that Mr Obama's government-run insurance plan - a so-called "public option" - was "not the essential element" of the administration reforms.
"I think what's important is choice and competition. And I'm convinced at the end of the day, the plan will have both of those," she said.
Separately, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs also refused to say that the "public option" was a make-or-break choice.
Mr Gibbs said Mr Obama's administration would consider an alternative proposal of consumer-owned, non-profit co-operatives that would sell insurance in competition with private industry.
The proposal is currently being fine-tuned in the Senate Finance Committee.
The comments of Mr Obama's senior officials come in contrast to the president's remarks at a "town-hall" speech in Colorado on Saturday that his faith in a public option was strong.
If the administration makes this concession it would probably enrage many of its liberal supporters, correspondents say.
But they say it could also deliver the president a much-needed win on his top domestic priority for 2009.
There has been some progress in the House of Representatives on agreeing a deal on the issue but negotiations in the Senate have stalled.
Both chambers need to agree on a bill before it can become law.