Sen. Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) proposed a compromise by creating nonprofit insurance co-ops to compete with monopolies and provide coverage to rural areas. Actuaries suggested that $10 billion in grants would be enough to get co-ops started in every state. Yet the marionettes in Congress began to strip away their effectiveness almost immediately.
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska), a former insurance exec and one of the wealthiest members of Congress, withheld his vote unless the grants were changed to loans, making sure the co-ops were saddled with debt from the beginning.
Others sneaked in measures barring the co-ops from competing for the more lucrative business of large employers and banned them from using the government loans for marketing. It was as if Congress merely wanted fig-leaf competition while quietly sabotaging any chance to actually compete.
The $10 billion in loans was continually sheared away. Democrats repeatedly agreed to deals with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) to strip the money away.