NEW: GOP head calls co-ops ‘backdoor’ to public option

    WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele says he fears the health insurance cooperatives envisioned in the bill the Senate Finance Committee is promoting amounts to a “back door to a public option.“
    Interviewed on CBS’s “The Early Show,“ Steele also said he doubts Republicans will embrace the legislation produced by committee Chairman Max Baucus and the “Gang of Six.“ They included Baucus, two other Democrats and three Republicans.
    Steele said he believes that the “co-ops in this bill represent government control. The government is financing these co-ops. We need to watch this very carefully.“ Steele also repeated an earlier assertion in which he disagreed with former President Jimmy Carter that racism has played a role in the at-times bitter opposition to President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul plans.