Senator Jay Rockefeller said 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.
“We can’t sort of hedge and say ‘what’s Olympia going to do,'” Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said in an interview. “We’ve got to decide what we want.”
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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 is trying to craft a final measure that satisfies conflicting demands of 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.
“There has to be a counterweight to the malevolence of the insurance industry,” Rockefeller said.
Snowe, who is being courted for her support on the health 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.
While Rockefeller, a member of the finance committee, voted for the panel’s plan, he was critical of it because it failed to include the public option.
He and 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.
