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Health Care Bill Provides Goodies for Some Democrats
December 21, 2009
The deal-making and vote-buying necessary to advance the Senate health care bill has angered Republicans.
Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill following passage of the $1.1 trillion spending bill in Washington on Dec. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)
Among other items, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., included a provision allowing residents of the town of Libby, Mont., who are suffering asbestos-related illnesses from a mining operation, to get Medicare benefits.
Sen. Ben Nelson won a list of benefits for Nebraska, including a commitment for the federal government to pick up the full tab of an expansion of Medicaid.
And Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who faces a difficult re-election, inserted a $100 million item for construction of a university hospital that his spokesman said he hopes to claim for the University of Connecticut.
(Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
