By Kurtis Lee
Los Angeles Times
In today’s political climate, it’s rare to find bipartisanship. But as President Donald Trump calls on Senate Republicans to pass a bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, governors —— Republican and Democratic are unified in opposition.
The Senate health care bill would cut Medicaid spending by $772 billion over the next decade, leaving millions of low-income people uninsured in states where Medicaid was expanded under the Affordable Care Act.
The governors from states that took advantage of the Medicaid expansion have worked together in writing letters, holding teleconferences with reporters and hosting private meetings with members of Congress. Some have called for no repeal, others a more measured approach.
Here are some of them.
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Ohio Gov. John Kasich
Medicaid expansion: 2014
Ohioans covered since expansion: 682,922
Impact: Expansion has helped increase coverage for those with mental health and substance abuse problems. Nearly a third of the enrollees covered by Medicaid in the state have depression or anxiety disorders, according to an Ohio Department of Medicaid study.
The study found nearly a third of Medicaid recipients also had some sort of drug or alcohol dependence. Like many states, Ohio is dealing with an opioid abuse epidemic and some officials, including Kasich, fear cuts to Medicaid will hinder access to drug abuse treatment.
“I believe these are people who need to have coverage,” Kasich said at a recent news conference, alongside Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. “If you don’t have a system that does that, then you have a problem.”
Political future: Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, he assailed Trump for harsh rhetoric toward, among others, women and Muslims.
After Kasich ended his presidential campaign, he never endorsed Trump.
Some say Kasich is the Republican best positioned to challenge Trump in 2020. He is term-limited and cannot run for re-election as governor
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Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D)
Medicaid expansion: 2014
Coloradans covered since expansion: 421,111
Impact: Before Medicaid expansion in 2014, more than 14 percent of Coloradans were uninsured. That number is now about 6 percent, according to the nonpartisan Colorado Health Institute. Expansion has benefited many people who live in rural counties along the state’s southern border.
Political future: Hickenlooper’s term ends in 2018 and in recent months he’s been asked on several occasions if he plans to run for president in 2020. He said he’ll wait and see.
The former Denver mayor could also run for a Senate seat in 2020, challenging Republican incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner.
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Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval
Medicaid expansion: 2014
Nevadans covered since expansion: 203,929
Impact: The state’s uninsured rate was 23 percent in 2012 — one of the highest in the country. By 2015 it had fallen to 11 percent. Sandoval was among the first Republican governors to enroll his state — where many lower-income workers are the backbone of the tourism and hospitality industry — in Medicaid expansion.
“This is a way for me to protect these people,” Sandoval told the Associated Press when he announced his support for expanding Medicaid.
Political future: A moderate Republican, Sandoval won re-election in 2014, but has not hinted at his plans once he leaves office. Before Sandoval became governor, he w was a U.S. district judge. He’s currently the vice chairman of the National Governors Assn.
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Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey
Medicaid expansion: 2014
Arizonans covered since expansion: 416,349
Impact: Like Ohio and other states, Arizona is dealing with an opioid epidemic. In June, Ducey declared a statewide health emergency because of the growing number of opioid deaths in the state — about two a day last year.
Health care officials estimate that tens of thousands of Arizonans who rely on Medicaid to treat substance abuse could lose coverage if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. Although Ducey has repeatedly called the current law “flawed,” he asked Congress to not repeal it without a solid replacement.
Political future: Ducey, a former state treasurer, emerged from a primary field of a half-dozen Republican candidates for governor in 2014 and easily won the general election. Ducey, 53, is relatively young for a governor and is running for a second term in 2018.
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Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D)
Medicaid expansion: 2015
Montanans covered since expansion: 70,000 (estimate)
Impact: Medicaid expansion dropped the uninsured rate in Montana from 15 percent in 2013 to about 7 percent in 2016, according to the governor’s office. Bullock and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards held a joint phone call last month to urge the Senate to not pass its health care bill. Bullock said it would “disproportionately affect” rural states like Montana, and it would cut Medicaid reimbursements that help keep many rural hospitals afloat.
Political future: Bullock was narrowly elected to a second term in 2016 as Trump won the state by 20 percentage points. Many political observers in Montana think Bullock might want to run for president in 2020. Or, perhaps, he could run for the Senate that that year against Republican Sen. Steve Daines.
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Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D)
Medicaid expansion: 2016
Louisianans covered since expansion: 300,000 (estimate)
Impact: Joining the Medicaid expansion, Bel Edwards said, would prevent Louisianans from “slipping further into poverty and give them a fighting chance for a better life.” It was a sharp departure from his predecessor, Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, who opposed expansion.
Political future: Before his election in 2015, Bel Edwards was in the state House since 2008. The state often votes Republican in presidential races, but a few Democratic governors have been elected since the early 1990s.
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(Sean Greene contributed to this report.)
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