Landrieu foresees health deal

WASHINGTON -- Without spelling out details, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said Friday that she sees a possibility of compromise on health care legislation being hammered out in Congress.

Landrieu, a key vote in the Senate as supporters try to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome a likely GOP filibuster, made the comments after a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

During the session, Landrieu reiterated that she and a number of other moderates still are extremely concerned about a government-run, taxpayer-funded national plan.

"I want to commend Leader Reid for the time he has taken to meet individually with Democratic senators to hear each of our concerns personally," Landrieu said. "And I'm grateful that he clearly understands we must reach these goals in a manner that will drive the cost of health care down for government, businesses and families.

Landrieu said that recent discussions among senators with varying views on health care overhaul could "potentially lead to a compromise."

"I believe this compromise should happen sooner, rather than later, so we can get to work on other critical aspects of heath care reform, such as out-of-control premiums, denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, gender discrimination and antitrust exemption," she said.

Some Democrats have recently discussed a compromise in which a public health insurance option would be available in all states except those that choose to opt out.

Proponents of a public option to compete with private insurance plans say it is the only way to ensure competition needed to reduce health care costs. But opponents, including Landrieu, say that private plans will have a tough time competing with government programs that don't pay taxes and have other advantages, leading to the possibility of health coverage dominated, if not controlled, by the government.

Landrieu said she also spoke to Reid about concerns that Louisiana isn't being treated fairly in terms of Medicaid reimbursement rates.

"He (Reid) understood these challenges and seemed willing to consider different ways to help us address these problems," Landrieu said.

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Bruce Alpert can be reached at balpert@timespicayune.com or 202.383.7861.