Ben Nelson Plans To Oppose Public Health Plan

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said Friday that he will oppose legislation that would give people the option of a public health insurance plan. The move puts him on the opposite side of two-thirds of Americans.

A poll released this week by Consumer Reports National Research Center showed that 66 percent of Americans back the creation of a public health plan that would compete with private plans. Nelson, in comments made to CQ, joins the 16 percent of poll respondents who said they oppose the plan.

Nelson's problem, he told CQ, is that the public plan would be too attractive and would hurt the private insurance plans. "At the end of the day, the public plan wins the game," Nelson said. Including a public option in a health plan, he said, was a "deal breaker."

A Nelson spokesman didn't return a call for comment.

As he so often does, Nelson said, according to CQ, that he planned to form a "coalition of like-minded centrists opposed to the creation of a public plan, as a counterweight to Democrats pushing for it."

That coalition will not include 16 Democratic senators who signed a letter calling for a public plan earlier this week, including Senate leaders Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.).

If Democrats use the reconciliation process to pass health care reform, however, Nelson's vote would not be needed, as only a simple majority could pass the legislation.

Ryan Grim is the author of the forthcoming book This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America

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Comments

[bpress]

I'm sure that it has NOTHING to do with Mutual of Omaha being one of the biggest companies in Nebraska.

[widdles]

Let me guess. Ben and his family have their health coverage so SCREW THE REST OF THE PEOPLE!

[Dez3]

Yes, he and his family are insured thanks to the american people! Who pay his salary.

[Craftyone]

Dear Ben,
You are living in a fantasy world that is apparently subsidized by campaign dollars from the drug and healthcare insurance industry, who have given you campaign $. You were elected, you have a pension that will take care of you and your family in perpetuity, what about US?

[gopSTEALSyourTAXmoney]

..."to form a coalition of like-minded centrists opposed to the creation of a publican plan"...

Like the one the politicians have.

Dirty rats.

[PJay1]

Let's see him give up his and his family's health care.
Then maybe we can talk.
K?

[DoTheMath]

Dear Ben Nelson,
Why do you hate Americans and love predatory "insurance?"

[Harmony1812]

True. We need health care, not health insurance. Why bother with the middle man? Insurance companies just manipulate our rates and our options so they come out smelling like a rose. Insurance companies, HMOs, and Big Pharma are what is costing Social Security terrible cost overruns. I say we should leave the option of private insurance and private healthcare to those who can afford it. Meanwhile, expand Medicaire, Medicaid and the VA to include everyone. Let the government take bids from Pharma Companies to keep costs down. The paperwork alone will save billions.

At least that way, our citizens will have some kind of medical care when needed instead of resorting to emergency rooms when we are critical. Perhaps we could get a filling instead of losing our teeth or blood pressure pills instead of a stroke or insulin instead of losing a foot. Why not expand government health care to include weightloss therapy, smoking clinics, prenatal clinics, cardio workouts, and group therapy. Govenment centers could included family services and after school day programs. Wellness centers like this could save many people from becoming a burden on their families and society. A healthy population is more productive.
I wouldn't be for everyone but it would be all that some people have or need.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[ladyvader]

I want my health care!!!

[jonmonbuckeye]

No problem. How much is your house, 401K, Social Security, and savings account worth? I can give you six months insurance for that price, but the deductable will kill you.

[smapdi]

Nelson and the others value the balance sheets of private insurers more than they value American lives.

[apduncan1]

Screw the SOB ... Nebraska owes the country the duty to vote thta bum out of oofice.

[karela]

Ben Nelson's disagreement with a public health care option, as stated by him, is that Americans will be able to get more affordable health care that way and the insurance companies won't be able to make enough money. Whose side is he on anyway?

[yesshespeaks]

Not to be smart a** but isn't it obvious?

[Michael Rappaport]

The saddest thing about all this is that the insurance companies are the real villains in why health care costs are skyrocketing. Nearly 31 cents of every insurance dollar goes to administrative costs, and a large part of that is people whose job is to deny claims.

It's another one of those age-old questions about free markets. Free markets supposedly are controlled by the law of supply and demand, with prices shifting when supply or demand rises or falls.

But in the area of necessities, demand is by nature inelastic. We can refuse to buy luxuries if they are priced too high, but medical care is no luxury.

C'mon, Senator Nelson. wake up and smell the anesthetic.

Insurance companies are ripoffs -- and dinosaurs to boot.

[HankDennemann]

Michael--you are a blessing. FINALLY! Someone who recognizes that the argument against private health care does not need to be couched in feel-good, hippie-centric proposition of caring for the least among us, yada, yada, yada...

There is a very straightforward, academic, and free-market compatible explanation for why private health care will never work, and Michael hits it. Inelastic demands have no place in a free market--at least without a floor that everyone has access to. Groceries would likewise be nationalized if there were no food stamps. Simply put, in a civilized society, everyone should--just by virtue of their birth--have access to life's essentials. We can argue about whether or not those essentials include extraordinary medical care, but we cannot reasonably argue that the ability of a person to be treated for strep throat should be determined by their ability to navigate the free market. It is a ridiculous position, not only from an ethical standpoint, but also (as Michael points out) from an economic standpoint. It is time to appeal to the health care holdouts using these economic arguments, since that is the framework they are using.

[Progressive Pete]

Too bad our non profits can't operate as efficiently as the insurance industry.

A charity only spending 31% on overhead does not even exist!!!

[weatherwaxx]

Progressive, eh?

You sound like an insurance troll wearing a 'progressive' button.

Sorry - when people's insurance payments go through the in$urance industry, most of it $tick$ to executive finger$... I had a friend who died because Kaiser-Permanente refused to put him on the list for heart transplants. He was 40. Kaiser's execs got millions in bonuses that year.

The insurance industry should be on trial for murder.

[IndieBlue]

You clearly know absolutely nothing about either non profits or the insurance industry.

[RRonin]

We don't NEED dinosaurs like Ben Nelson to get health care passed! And when the time comes for him to run for re-election, we won't FORGET!

[Gidster]

He said it would be too competitive for private insurance.... Isn't that what a Free Market Society looks for?

Sen Nelson would put corporate profits above American's health care...... The Insurance industry must own him.

[Progressive Pete]

No. That is not a free market. That is government operating at a loss, competing with companies.

[houseafire]

Given the last few items that have went to our congressional system....I really doubt if the health care will get passed. Now because of any senator's "plan"...but because the majority of Senators are owned by Big Business and care not about anything except their own pocketbooks so they can be relected and live on easy street :(

I wish President Obama had ousted the lobbyists....but the almighty dollar is the only thing that seems to matter to most of the politicians.

[crazylikeafox]

If you want universal healthcare make this a household name: William W. McGuire

William W. McGuire M.D. was the CEO of UnitedHealth Group Inc. from 1992 until 2006.

McGuire's exit compensation from UnitedHealth, was around $1.1 billion, the largest golden parachute in the history of corporate America.

On 6 December 2007, the SEC announced a settlement under which McGuire will repay $468 million, as a partial settlement of the backdating prosecution. This was the first time in which the little-used "clawback" provision under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was used against an individual by SEC. Wiki

This man is THE REASON WE NEED PRIVATE FOR-PROFIT HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES OUT OF THE PICTURE.

They are in business to make as much profit as possible. That means rejecting payment and treatment for their insured.

[jacklambert]

Health care for profit is the ultimate insanity. Ben Nelson is the new 'Rethug' Party

[Harmony1812]

They are greedy thugs that are only interested in lthe bottom line.

[gm32794]

What an idiot thing to say! The public plan would be too attractive and would hurt private plans? Get a clue, Ben. It's called competition. If the public plan is more attractive than the private plans and the public shuns the private plans, the private insurance companies will have to come up with better, less expensive plans. Poor old Ben seems to think that everything is fine out here in the countryside while he lives in LA-LA Land. Time for you to take a seat on the sidelines and get someone in there who understands what is happening in America.

[karela]

It's called being able to afford to go to the Dr. when you or your kid is sick versus not being able to afford to go to the Dr. Ben objects because the public plan would be more affordable for Americans. How twisted is that?

[groucho]

The word plan should be left out of the title. Kill Public Health. Except for Ben and his buddies. They got theirs, who cares about the country? If it's good enough for the Senate to have health care, why can't the people?
Well, it's like New Orleans. They just don't care.

[balickistan]

exactly. thats why we should band together to help nebraska rid themselves of a bastartd like that.

[Harmony1812]

Maybe they want the needy to die off.

[groucho]

Maybe is not the word. They DO want the needy to die off. And it's working.