Legal Commentary

Ben Nelson, Pushover?

By Big Tent Democrat

I assume Reid has paid the ransom (I see very little that Nelson got here that could not have been handled in 10 minutes. Maybe I am missing something.) If this is it - I have only one more demand and I would support this bill - sunset the mandates. If I were a House Progressive, that would be my one demand that I would think I could get and I would make it non-negotiable.

If this is the Manager's Amendment (PDF), we may have gotten off cheap on the Medicaid portion - here is a special exemption for Nebraska on Medicaid looks like:

‘‘(3) Notwithstanding subsection (b) and paragraphs 5 (1) and (2) of this subsection, the Federal medical assistance percentage otherwise determined under subsection 7(b) with respect to all or any portion of a fiscal year that begins on or after January 1, 2017, for the State of Nebraska, with respect to amounts expended for newly eligible individuals described in subclause (VIII) of section 11 1902(a)(10)(A)(i), shall be determined as provided for under subsection (y)(1)(A) (notwithstanding the period provided for in such paragraph).

(Emphasis supplied.)

On abortion, it looks like a state opt out:

'‘(a) STATE OPT-OUT OF ABORTION COVERAGE.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may elect to prohibit abortion coverage in qualified health plans offered through an Exchange in such State if such State enacts a law to provide for such prohibition.

To be honest, if Hyde was changed to this, it would be a win. Of course, this is on top of Hyde, so it is well, ridiculous.

It seems the insurance companies gave Nelson his marching orders - maybe they thought the entire bill was at risk. Nelson appears to have wasted everyone's time. In any event, I think Stupak will not accept this.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on December 19, 2009 (boomark / email).