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At Meeting in Washington, GOP Governors Divided on Obamacare Replacement

Republican governors are split over an Obamacare replacement plan -- just like their counterparts in Congress.

Republican governors are split over an Obamacare replacement plan -- just like their counterparts in Congress.

 

The big problem is how to make sure a repeal of the health law doesn't penalize red states that took billions of dollars in federal funds to add low-income residents to Medicaid rolls -- or those who shunned the extra money.

 

 

Leaders of 33 GOP-controlled states gathered for the National Governors Association Winter Meeting said they're working to present a consensus plan to Congress. But Republican designs on capping Medicaid, the health entitlement for the poor, are making it difficult to come up with a system that doesn't create winners and losers.

 

”This is still fairly gelatinous,” Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said Saturday. “There's a lot of ideas, a lot of moving parts, a lot of governors with different ideological perspectives-- all of that is in the cauldron right now.”

 

“A solution must be there,” he added. “Repealing alone serves no purpose.”

 

The governors are split on whether to ask Congress to preserve the federal funding boost Obamacare made available to cover millions of additional low-income adults and broader structural changes.

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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