OMAHA — Sen. Ben Nelson said Thursday he has asked the Democratic leadership to extend to all states the extra Medicaid funding promised to Nebraska in the health care reform bill.
The Democrat wouldn’t say who he has spoken to regarding the so-called Cornhusker Kickback but said he would see to it that Nebraska doesn’t get a special deal.
Nelson provided the crucial 60th vote that brought the reform bill to the full Senate after winning concessions to limit the availability of abortions in insurance sold in newly created exchanges. Among other things, he was promised federal funding to cover Nebraska’s entire cost of a Medicaid expansion included in the bill. Other states will have to begin picking up a portion of the added expanse beginning in 2017.
Nelson said Thursday that if he can’t secure a similar deal for every state, he wants states to be freed from paying the cost of Medicaid expansion. That could mean eliminating the provision, finding another way to pay for it or allowing states to opt out.
Meanwhile Thursday, advocacy groups lobbied President Barack Obama and Congress on Thursday, trying to eliminate what they called a “loophole” in Senate health care legislation that they said could allow insurers to raise rates on customers based on their weight or blood sugar levels.
The groups said that would contradict one of the main goals of the congressional health care overhaul, which is to eliminate insurance company practices such as charging more, or denying coverage, based on health status.
The push came amid intense behind-the-scenes negotiations on Capitol Hill and at the White House to reconcile sweeping health care legislation passed by the House and Senate into a final bill Obama could sign before his State of the Union address in early February.
House Democrats held a conference call during which a number of lawmakers vented frustration over provisions in the Senate bill they don’t want to be forced to accept, most prominently a tax on high-value insurance plans.
