Governor Carnahan seems unimpressed with Senator John Ashcroft’s new-found support for HMO reform. Ashcroft voted for a republican alternative to the bill that Carnahan supports. Ashcroft defends his position, saying the earlier compromise would have opened employers to lawsuits. He says the latest compromise promotes arbitration. Carnahan says if his senate opponent had supported the earlier compromise, state residents would already be covered by the law’s benefits. He calls the move an “election year conversion” and complains that Ashcroft refused to support earlier compromise measures when he had a chance.
