SPOTLIGHT: Nelson backs off Medicaid deal for Nebraska

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) has asked to have a provision removed from the Senate healthcare reform bill in which he got preferential treatment for his state's Medicaid program in exchange for his "yes" reform vote. In a letter to Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Nelson has asked that if the deal can't be extended to every state, that it be rescinded for his state. Under the current deal, the federal government would have paid 100 percent of Nebraska's expenses for Medicaid expansion required by health reform. Article