Nelson: Give states 'opt in' public health plan

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By Sean Lengell

Sen. Ben Nelson, Nebraska Democrat, says he is open to a government-run health insurance program if states are given the choice to participate.

But Mr. Nelson, a moderate who is a key player in the health care debate on Capitol Hill, says he hasn't decided to support a national "public option" health insurance program to compete with private insurers, a central component of the Obama administration's plan to overhaul the health care system.

"I'm a Jeffersonian Democrat. I think the states can make decisions on their own about their own citizens," Mr. Nelson said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union. "And so I certainly would look at that."

He said he will reserve judgment on the bill until all the details are hammered out.

"I don't think I can make any decision about anything until I've seen everything," he said.

Democratic leaders who have been wooing Mr. Nelson's support need 60 votes to advance the health care bill through the Senate.

Mr. Nelson said he won't support even procedural maneuvers to advance debate on the measure "until I see the underlying bill."

"It would be, I think, reckless to say I'll support the procedure without knowing what the underlying bill consists of," he said, "and it's not put together yet."

The public option plan is one of the most controversial proposals in the debate over remaking the nation's health care system. Nearly all Republicans have vowed to defeat the measure over concern that it would lead to government-run health care and undermine the free market. Moderate Democrats are skeptical of the plan's cost and how it would reimburse doctors.

House leaders on Thursday said they have the votes to pass a government-run health insurance plan, and Senate negotiators appear headed in the same direction, with a clause to allow states to opt out.