Omaha, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska's Republican governor was concerned about expanded Medicaid costs in the proposed Senate health care bill, and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) says that’s what led to a compromise, in which the federal government will cover Nebraska’s estimated $45 million share over a decade.
Gov. Dave Heineman "contacted me and he said this is another unfunded federal mandate and it's going to stress the state budget, and I agreed with him," said the Nebraska Democrat on Sunday. Nelson himself served as Nebraska’s governor in the 1990s.
"I said to the leader (Sen. Harry Reid) and others that this is something that has to be fixed. I didn't participate in the way it was fixed."
But Heineman expressed anything but gratitude, saying he had nothing to do with the compromise and calling the overhaul bill "bad news for Nebraska and bad news for America"...
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