State leaders lobby for compromise on health care

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of governors working to strike a compromise on hotbutton policy issues took on the question of health care Friday.

Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in presenting the group’s blueprint for policy changes at the National Press Club, lamented that one of the country’s largest challenges seems to have been set aside by policymakers. “It’s like health care doesn’t even matter anymore down here,” he said.

Kasich and Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper have been working for more than a year on identifying common ground in health care, immigration and other top policy issues. They were joined in Friday’s effort by independent Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, Republican Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.

The governors’ plan includes their ideas for improving affordability, restoring stability, promoting flexibility so that states can innovate and eliminating duplicative and burdensome insurance regulations.

The governors urge the federal government to restore insurer subsidies that were stopped by President Trump, triggering sharp increases in premiums. They also seek to sign more people up for coverage. Last year, the Trump administration slashed the ad budget for the Affordable Care Act’s 2018 sign-up season.

The governors’ proposal doesn’t merely call for federal government action, it also provides examples of effective state efforts that can be used as examples at the federal and state levels, said Greg Moody, who leads Kasich’s Office of Health Transformation.