Many Americans — including Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen — were disgusted by the sweetheart deal that the state of Nebraska got in exchange for Nebraska Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson’s vote for ObamaCare socialized medicine legislation. His support gave the bill just enough votes to pass in the Senate.
The deal netted Sen. Nelson’s state $100 million in extra federal aid to cover the full cost of expanding Medicaid, as the states would have to do under ObamaCare. But most other states did not get any such “gravy” to cover their own Medicaid expansion costs.
Gov. Bredesen noted, for instance, that ObamaCare would cost Tennessee’s TennCare program anywhere from $750 million to $1.4 billion, depending on which version of the legislation passed. It would add up to 300,000 new TennCare enrollees, too, he said, though the state does not have the money to cover them.
Gov. Bredesen, like governors and residents of other states, said the so-called “Cornhusker kickback” ought to be removed entirely or provided to all states to cover their costs.
Now, in response to intense public pressure, Sen. Nelson has pulled back his request. He says the Senate should drop the special treatment of Nebraska in the health care bill and treat all states equally.