Ashcroft explains new HMO stance

Senator John Ashcroft denies his support of a recent compromise on health care reform is an “election-year conversion.” Ashcroft has voted against such measures in the past. He now supports a revised version of the Norwood-Dingell bill that has been debated in the presidential campaign. He says the new bill would allow doctors to make the decisions, not government or HMO bureaucrats. Though the bill is a compromise, it still receives criticism from business groups generally sympathetic to Ashcroft. They say it would hold some businesses liable for certain health care decisions.