By Catherine Dodge Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) — Democrats shouldn’t tailor a health-care overhaul to the wishes of Republican Senator Olympia Snowe and need to push for legislation that includes a government-run insurance program, Senator Jay Rockefeller said. “We can’t sort of hedge and say ‘what’s Olympia going to do,’” Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt ,” airing this weekend. “We’ve got to decide what we want.” Snowe, who this week voted for an $829 billion finance committee bill, is the only Republican to back an overhaul plan. Keeping the Maine lawmaker on board as the legislation moves through the Senate may help attract Democrats facing re- election battles and possibly other Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , a Nevada Democrat, is trying to craft a final measure that satisfies conflicting demands within his party, such as whether to include a government-run plan. “If we calculate so finely and so exquisitely, we’re going to lose our leadership and our momentum,” said Rockefeller, 72. “And right now yes, we did get her vote. As she said yes for this one, it doesn’t mean for the next round of votes.” Rockefeller said Reid’s legislation would have to include a government plan, or public option, to compete with private companies, such as Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc . Counterweight to ‘Malevolence’ “There has to be a counterweight to the malevolence of the insurance industry,” Rockefeller said. Senator Tom Harkin , an Iowa Democrat who is chairman of the Senate health committee , lent support to Rockefeller’s view, saying health-care overhaul “will have a public option.” “We have to have a public option so there’s some choice,” Harkin told reporters yesterday in a conference call. UnitedHealth Group Inc. , based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, supports a mandate that people buy insurance in exchange for their pledge to guarantee coverage to people with preexisting conditions. So do Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. and smaller insurers belonging to the trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans. Harkin said Congress shouldn’t mandate coverage if people must buy from a private company. Snowe, who is being courted for her support on the health- care overhaul by the White House, has urged President Barack Obama to drop the public option and instead suggested a so- called trigger that would activate a public option only if private insurers fail to make coverage affordable. Lower Costs While Rockefeller, a finance committee member, voted for the panel’s plan, he was critical of it because it failed to include the public option. He and some other Democrats say the public option is the best way to lower costs so more uninsured Americans can afford coverage. The finance committee measure instead offers $6 billion in seed money for nonprofit insurance cooperatives. “There were 30 Democrats that signed a petition asking Harry for a public option,” he said, referring to Reid. Reid is “more likely” to include a version of the public option that requires the government to negotiate rates with providers, as private insurers do, than peg them to the less- expensive Medicare rates, Rockefeller said. That proposal would be similar to an amendment offered by Senator Chuck Schumer , a New York Democrat, that was rejected by the finance panel. Rockefeller also said he favors greater checks on insurance companies. He said he would introduce an amendment requiring insurers to spend 85 percent of their revenue on health care for consumers. “This is in a couple of the House bills,” he said. “I think it’s a discipline which works very, very well.” Tax on Insurers Rockefeller has expressed concern over a plan to impose a tax on insurance companies’ most-expensive policies because it would affect coal-miners and other working-class Americans. The finance committee bill is the only one of five overhaul versions passed by House and Senate panels to include the levy. The 40 percent excise tax, which would begin in 2013, would be placed on insurers of employer-sponsored health plans with benefits exceeding $8,000 for individual coverage and $21,000 for families. Thresholds are increased by $1,850 and $5,000 for retirees 55 and older and for employees in union- heavy industries. Rockefeller also said he would back a plan, in separate legislation, to repeal the insurance industries’ antitrust exemption to spur competition and control costs. Christine Varney , head of the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division , told the Senate Judiciary Committee this week that ending the exemption would bolster competition, though she stopped short of calling on Congress to act. Rockefeller said he’s optimistic that health-care legislation would pass, gauging the odds as “pretty good” that Obama will sign a bill this year. To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Dodge in Washington at cdodge1@bloomberg.net
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Democrats Can’t Tailor Health-Care Bill to Senator Snowe, Rockefeller Says
