Dean slams Senate bill in op-ed

Howard Dean explained his opposition to the Senate healthcare bill today in a pretty strident Washington Post op-ed.

Here's the key paragraph:

Any measure that expands private insurers' monopoly over health care and transfers millions of taxpayer dollars to private corporations is not real health-care reform. Real reform would insert competition into insurance markets, force insurers to cut unnecessary administrative expenses and spend health-care dollars caring for people. Real reform would significantly lower costs, improve the delivery of health care and give all Americans a meaningful choice of coverage. The current Senate bill accomplishes none of these. 

Dean adds a rhetorical flourish later, characterizing the bill as an insurance company bailout that "dwarts even what happened at AIG."

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va), who's fought hard for the public otion, blasted Dean's opposition to the bill yesterday, calling it "nonsense." 

"It's nonsense and it's irresponsible and coming from him as a physician, it's stunning," Rockefeller told MSNBC.