Well, technically not big at all – Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform is so petite that when she arrived for our interview Friday morning, we had to switch to smaller chairs because the ones we had chosen, she said, “make me feel like I’m in kindergarten.” But we covered a lot of ground on a subject that is anything but small. I’ll have full details (and a video) early next week, but here are some preview highlights from her answers to the questions we assembled from the experiences and suggestions of our readers:

• The elimination of medical underwriting – a feature of every one of the bills before Congress – is an underappreciated boon for consumers. Once insurers are barred from using pre-existing conditions to deny or limit coverage, or charge people higher premiums, they’ll no longer have any reason to look into anyone’s medical history. Insurers right now spend untold billions investigating and evaluating applicants’ medical histories, DeParle pointed out – especially those who get their insurance as individuals or as part of small employer groups. After reform, that money can be spent on providing health care, instead of denying it.

• I asked her what relief might be available right now for people who can’t get or afford coverage because of pre-existing conditions while they wait for full reform to begin in 2013. She said the Administration is working with Congress to set up a temporary national high-risk pool that could be up and running within a year of the passage of a reform bill, complete with subsidies to make coverage more affordable. Folks shut out of the market because of their health history could buy health insurance there for the time being.

-- Nancy Metcalf, senior program editor