Most people are aware of the horse trading that goes on amongst Senators and House members behind the scenes within their respective bodies and things are no different with this historic health care reform vote.  However, one Senator takes it to a new level.  Sen. Ben Nelson demanded, in return for his vote on Saturday to permit the Health Care Reform bill to be debated on the floor, that the repeal of the anti-trust exemption for insurance companies be removed from the bill.  Other Senators also made demands in return for their vote.  Sen. Landrieu received an earmark to the tune of $100-300M.  The earmark increases Medicaid subsidies to states that have been stricken with a natural disaster in the last seven years.  Sen. Lincoln is rumored to have received a revival of funding ($50M annually) for abstinence education.  A bill originally enacted by the Bush administration.  But Sen. Nelson was absolutely blatant in protecting his most important constituents, the insurance industry.  At least with Lincoln and Landrieu the trade was for something that arguably benefits the people of their respective states.  But Nelson trade benefits the insurance companies only.  We have an underlying public policy in this country that monopolies are BAD and do not contribute to a competitive, thriving, and innovative marketplace.  Congress has enacted a bevy of laws stemming from that tenet.  Therefore, Nelson using his bargaining chip to keep the isurance industry from abiding by the same anti-trust laws that all other businesses abide by speaks volumes about his priorities.

Quote from Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) on This Week with George Stepanopolous about the public option:

No, no. I mean, we could negotiate a public option of some sort that I might look at, but I don’t want a big government, Washington-run operation that would undermine the — the insurance that — private insurance that 200 million Americans now have profitability of private insurance companies.

Sen. Nelson has received over $2 million from the insurance industry in Nebraska.  Two insurance companies, Blue Cross and Blue Shield along with United Healthcare,  control almost seventy percent of the Nebraska insurance market.  Such pertinent facts shed some light on why Nelson insisted on the removal of  the language repealing the anti-trust exemption currently enjoyed by the insurance industry that was in the health care bill prior to Saturday’s vote and his position regarding the public option.