| Submit your comments on this article | ||
| Home Front: Politix | ||
| Nelson: Medicaid exemption was only 'placeholder' | ||
| 2010-01-16 | ||
| Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson (D) is asking Senate Democrats to remove from their healthcare bill a guarantee that his state would not have to pay for its new Medicaid patients. Although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) added the exemption to the bill to court Nelson's much-needed vote in December, the Nebraska senator stressed on Friday that his party should instead nix his own "special deal." He said the exemption was always envisioned as a "placeholder that would be removed" once the House and Senate combined their bills; a stepping stone for a better provision that would allow any state to opt out of the healthcare legislation's proposed Medicaid expansion. "I believe I have been clear that my intentions during all stages of negotiations were not that the State of Nebraska be given a special deal, but rather that all states be given the same tools to address an unfunded federal mandate," Nelson said in a letter to Reid.
At the beckoning of Nebraska's governor, Nelson initially asked Democrats to create an "opt out" clause for states whose financial situations may have precluded their participation in the expanded entitlement program.
But the deal proved instantly and politically noxious to both Nelson's own constituents and party members. Republicans frequently cite the exemption as evidence that Democrats have filled their healthcare legislation with nefarious projects. Some Democrats, similarly fearful of what the Medicaid expansion might mean for their states, have even asked for its exclusion from the final bill. | ||
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Heh. Whattsamatta, Ben? Sick of the fact that you can't go out for dinner in Omaha anymore without some pissed off constituent getting in your face? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-01-16 21:14 |