Another GOP governor likes the Medicaid expansion
Barb ShellyAnother conservative Republican governor, Ohio’s John Kasich, is getting in on the Medicaid expansion.
He joins the Republican governors of Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota and Nevada in announcing he’ll accept federal money in order to raise Medicaid eligibility limits to 133 percent, as called for in the Affordable Care Act.
For those keeping score, 20 governors have announced they’ll participate in the expansion, though some, like Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, face a challenge from their legislatures. The rest of the states are either undecided or leaning one way or the other but not yet committed.
In reading this Associated Press account of Kasich’s announcement, I am struck by how much Kasich, a very conservative Republican, sounds like Nixon, a pretty conservative Democrat.
“I don’t believe in the individual mandate,” Kasich said. Neither did Nixon, when the mandate was a red-hot issue last year and deeply unpopular in Missouri.
“But I think that this makes great sense for the state of Ohio,” Kasich said of the Medicaid expansion. Nixon has said the same of Missouri.
Kasich also pointed out that if Ohio doesn’t expand Medicaid eligibility, federal taxes paid by Ohioans will go to expand Medicaid in other states, and businesses elsewhere will gain an advantage by creating a healthier workforce. Pretty much the same arguments made by Nixon.
Also, both Kasich and Nixon are proposing a safety valve, which would automatically lower Medicaid eligibility in states if the federal government reneges on its funding commitment.
Pick your takeaway from all of this: 1) Kasich, known as one of the nation’s must tight-fisted governors, isn’t as conservative as he’s billed to be, or 2) Nixon is a trendsetter or 3) Whatever your political bent, the Medicaid expansion makes sense.
The smart money is on Takeaway No. 3.
George Hunsucker
Northland
3 months, 2 weeks agoIt amazes me how a governor can think “this is the best for the state of XXX”, given it is long-term higher spending, but I am not a smart lib….
To call Kasich a very conservative R is a joke ms. shelly, but I’ve grown accustomed to same from your columns….
Mark Robertson
3 months, 2 weeks agoKasich has been a great governor. He has turned the economy around in Ohio with tax and spending cuts. His great work on the economy may even be the reason that Obama won Ohio. “Low information” voters don’t have a clue as to how state’s economy improved, thus they gave credit to their beloved “leader,”
It is crazy though for Kasich to accept the expansion of Medicaid. Medicaid is a disastrous program that is already bankrupting the states. Speaking of Obamacare, the lying Obama when trying to sell the hoax of Obamacare said that it would reduce average family premiums by 2500 dollars. However they have already increased by that much, and an IRS released study shows that the average family premium by 2016 will cost around 20,000. Nice job Obama voters. This will cause families to pay the tyrannical fine because most won’t be able to afford that cost. It’s all about getting money from the “middle class,” one way or another. An exit poll in the recent election showed that voters by a margin of 81 to 17 percent thought that Obama understood their circumstances better than Romney. Besides the fact that that is not the job of a president, it is chilling to see how many people in this country have been duped. Our country is being wrecked on purpose right before our eyes, and most are clueless about it. Obama is actually happy that health care premiums are going through the roof, just as he planned. This would more quickly destroy the private insurance companies and pave the way for a single payer government system, which would destroy our health care system and essentially end our country and freedoms as we have known them and as the great Founders intended them to be. Thanks again Obama voters. “Nice job.” Thank you. Mark Robertson Independence
Mark Hastert
3 months, 2 weeks agoYet another sign that the extreme conservatives are losing their grip on the party. Their irrational rants are being shushed by those in the party who care about good effective governance and actually serving the needs of the citizens that elected them.
George Hunsucker
Northland
3 months, 2 weeks agosome more “data” for you libs…. the low information voter is about to get educated on zero care…..
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/feb/5/obama-health-law-will-cost-7-million/
Phil Cardarella
3 months, 2 weeks agoReality can be harsh medicine when introduced into the Tea Party’s tea.
Unlike a bunch of grandstanding legislators, Governors understand that they have actual responsibility. Wonder if Brownback will give in to responsibility or hold out for grandstanding for 2016?
George Hunsucker
Northland
3 months, 2 weeks agoyou mean like keeping their state solvent phillis???
Mark Robertson
3 months, 2 weeks agoGovernor Brownback is dealing with reality. That is why he is so hated by the leftists at the Star. Medicaid expansion will break the states. It already has in many cases. Thank you. Mark Robertson Independence
Phil Cardarella
3 months, 2 weeks agoMark:
PRISONS are what is “breaking” the States. 2/3 of all those incarcerated are there for non-violent offenses — mostly drugs. And, we lock up folks for longer and longer because of grandstanding by legislators, prosecutors and judges.
Medical care and education are public necessities. Locking folks up overly-long or over victimless crimes is a waste of tax money. Manufacturing felons is a drag on the economy.
Mark Hastert
3 months, 2 weeks ago“Governor Brownback is dealing with reality.”
….wrong, Brownie’s burnishing his bona fides for a Presidential run in 2016. He’s betting that it won’t all come crashing down ‘til after he’s gone…. that’s why he’s keeping the sales tax bump to slow the shortfall. He may be a wild eyed zealot but he can do arithmetic….Unfortunately for him his time is passed… nothing now but weak Tea