Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bob Kerrey is stepping up his efforts to nudge Republican opponent Deb Fischer to accept an invitation to debate health care reform.
Kerrey held a news conference Thursday to publicly plead for Fischer to accept.
So far, Kerrey and Fischer have only one debate set at next month's Nebraska State Fair.
Kerrey has said he's interested in a proposal that would see the federal government take full responsibility for Medicaid, a federal-state program for poor and disabled people, while states would take full responsibility for public schools.
Kerrey says the move would insure more people while saving states money.
Fischer has proposed allowing health insurance be sold across state lines to expand options and restricting malpractice awards to restrain health care costs.