AP Interview: Snowe says no to Reid's bill

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid won't be getting Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe's vote on his health care reform bill that includes a government-run insurance option.

Snowe was the only Republican on the Senate Finance Committee to vote to advance health care legislation earlier this month. But she told The Associated Press on Friday that she won't vote to proceed with the majority leader's bill as now crafted with a "public option."

Snowe's plan includes a "trigger" that would allow a government plan only if the private market fails to lower costs on its own. Snowe said she also doesn't plan to offer an amendment to Reid's bill because it wouldn't get enough votes to pass.

The Senate is expected to start debate on Reid's bill in the next two or three weeks.