Ark. Senator Says She Still Opposes Public Option

U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said Tuesday she still can't support a government-funded insurance option, a day after legislation was unveiled that would give states the choice of whether to participate in the program.

"Creating another government-funded option is not where we're going. We don't need to go there," Lincoln told members of the Arkansas Farm Bureau during a video conference. "A government-funded option is something that I think is not the way to go."

A day earlier, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced legislation that would give millions of Americans the option of purchasing government-run insurance coverage. Reid said individual states would have the choice of opting out of the program.

Lincoln has said she is against a government-run insurance option and voted for a proposal before the Senate Finance Committee that did not include one. Lincoln is among a few moderate Democrats in the Senate whose support is viewed as key to the health care overhaul.

She didn't specifically say she'd vote against Reid's proposal, but she said she'd prefer a program that would include insurance offered by a nonprofit group instead of the government.

"A nonprofit entity out there providing that could really do the same thing, but it wouldn't leave the taxpayer holding the tab," Lincoln said.

The bureau, which advocates and lobbies on behalf of the state's farmers, asked Lincoln to speak with its members about the health care overhaul and legislation aimed at curbing climate change. The bureau held video conferences with members at 12 sites around Arkansas for the two-hour forum with Lincoln.

Randy Veach, the bureau's president, said the group had asked her to oppose the public option.

Lincoln said her opposition to the public option stems from concerns she has about the cost of setting up such a program and whether it would create an "imbalance" in the private insurance market.