Dems, GOP spar overMedicaid plan at governors’ meeting
WASHINGTON — Tensions emerged Saturday between Democratic and Republican governors over a GOP-led proposal for an overhaul ofMedicaid, with Democrats saying the changes would take away people’s health coverage to finance tax cuts for the wealthy.
GOPgovernors intend to present Congress a plan that they say would give states more flexibility to administer health coverage for poorer residents while protecting states from absorbing the costs of repealing the federal Affordable Care Act.
Democratic governors said Saturday that their Republican counterparts were being dishonest about the effects of their plan.
“Theywant to spend less money on people’s health care so they can do tax cuts for the rich. They’ve tried to put this camouflage on it that somehow they’re giving governors flexibility. We’ve got plenty of flexibility,” Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said. “This is not what we are asking for.”
While major changes to former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law appear inevitable with Republicans controlling the White House and both houses of Congress, Inslee said there’s still a chance Democrats can win over GOP lawmakers who’ve been facing angry constituents at town hall meetings.
Inslee, whose national profile is rising as Democrats look for new leaders after Hillary Clinton’s loss inNovember, led a successful legal challenge against President Donald Trump’s ban on travel from seven majority-Muslim countries.
The talk about health care brought a dose of political reality to the nonpartisan National Governors’ Association’s winter meeting, where governors otherwise spend time praising one another and participating in panels on noncontroversial topics.
On Saturday, the governors met behind closed doors with Health Secretary Tom Price, who according to several governors said the Trump administration wanted to partner with states to reform health care but did not provide specifics.
Meanwhile, at the White House, Trump met with two Republican governors, Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and Florida’s Rick Scott, and discussed “how best to solve the problems” of the Obama-era health law, with “special emphasis” on states’ role in health care, according to a statement by his press secretary.
The entire governors group will meet with Trump and congressional leadersMonday.