from today’s Lincoln Journal Star:
Nelson said he wants to support a plan that reduces the cost of health care, raises the quality of care, expands choices and extends coverage to those who cannot attain it today.
When those elements are combined with his other concerns, Nelson said, “I don’t know if all of that’s possible.”
So Senator Nelson is at least admitting that he has created a scenario in which it’s impossible to meet his demands, and thus impossible to get his vote — not unlike other noisy Blue Dogs who fight savings measures and then complain about the cost. For example, he says he wants more competition, yet he still objects to a public insurance proposals out of fears of “how they might affect the current market.” So either way, he votes no.
Healthcare for America NOW’s report on the near-monopolies of the private health insurance industry pointed out just how little competition there is in that market. According to the U.S. Department of Justice,
When a firm has more than a 42 percent share of a single market, the U.S. Justice Department considers that market to be “highly concentrated.” This means that an insurer could raise premiums and/or reduce the variety of plans or quality of services offered to customers with impunity.
The study included state-by-state breakdowns (PDF), which showed that Blue Cross and Blue Shield has more than 44% of the Health Insurance market in Nebraska, followed by UnitedHealth Group at 25%. That’s 69% of the market controlled by two companies in a state that saw premium growth outpace income growth 69% to 21% from 2000 to 2007. This is the market that Ben Nelson is concerned about disrupting.