Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) said on MSNBC a few moments ago that he prefers a “trigger” option on health care reform — of the sort favored by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) — to the new “opt-out” compromise — which would allow states to individually opt out of a public health insurance option — that is gaining favor with some Democrats.
“I think it ought to be available in all markets, each of the states,” Nelson said. “The idea is, let the free market competition really determine what the rates are.”
Nelson said the “trigger” plan “would be more important” than the “opt-out” compromise, saying that “otherwise you could have a state (that) would say, well, the insurance companies lobbied that state and they just completely did what the insurance companies wanted and took away the public option.”
Nelson also said he expects the Baucus bill to pass the Senate Finance Committee tomorrow: “All the Democrats will vote for it to get it out of the committee. And I’m very hopeful and I’m very optimistic that Olympia will as well.”
Nelson also had harsh words for the health insurer trade group AHIP’s audit of the Baucus bill, saying that “you have to look at who produced the report — the insurance industry did.”
