spin_dry Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Update at 2:52 PM By: THOMAS BEAUMONT and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Republican governors from seven states are calling for dramatic changes to Medicaid, which provides insurance to more than 70 million low-income Americans, as they nervously watch President Donald Trump and GOP congressional leaders move to repeal and replace the Obama-era health law. At the same time, they're telling Washington: Don't scrap the Affordable Care Act without a viable alternative. According to a draft of the proposal obtained by The Associated Press, the governors are urging Congress to adopt an alternative that would change Medicaid from an open-ended federal entitlement to a program designed by each state within a financial limit. Led by Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a frequent critic of some GOP proposals on health care, the governors plan to present their proposal at their annual meeting in Washington on Saturday. In addition to Kasich, the governors are Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. At the heart of the document is concern among Republican governors they would bear the consequences if Congress scraps the health care law, shifting costs to the states, and jeopardizing coverage for millions of people who gained it under Obamacare's expansion. "We must ensure that people do not have the rug pulled out from under them and are not left without access to care, especially during the transition," the draft says. The proposal, if adopted by the Republican Governors Association on Saturday, would be submitted to leaders in the GOP-controlled Congress as House Republicans prepare to unveil their plan. Kasich met in Washington on Friday with Trump to discuss the plan, and described the president as having "listened very carefully to what I had to say about it." The governors represent states that expanded Medicaid despite strong GOP opposition and others that did not. Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio all agreed to expand Medicaid coverage under the federal law, in return for federal reimbursement to cover uninsured lower-income residents who would not have otherwise qualified. Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin did not. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid consumed an average 19 percent of state budgets in 2015, the most current year available, ranging from 7 percent in Utah to 41 percent in New Hampshire. The governors' proposal calls for putting states in charge of the program, but the federal government would continue to pay for most of it. "Flexibility is necessary to improve Medicaid program performance, but states also need adequate funding within a new financing structure to effectively manage the Medicaid program," the draft plan said. It's far from clear whether House Republicans would accept such a deal. Many congressional Republicans want to rewrite the basic financial contract for Medicaid. Republicans are proposing to limit future federal funding in exchange for allowing states much more leeway to run their programs. Budget hawks including House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., support the kind of program flexibility GOP governors are seeking, but chiefly want to spend less on Medicaid. Despite facing a likely battle, the governors involved in the plan represent states with influential Republican senators. The plan also seeks an unspecified but "appropriate transition period," as it could be years for a new system to be enacted. One of the vexing questions before lawmakers is how an alternative to the seven-year-old law would compensate states to subsidize coverage for Medicaid. The Republican governors come down decidedly against block grants, flat sums with far fewer restrictions than the federal law. Instead, they support "per-capita caps" that can be adjusted for factors such as the number of people being covered. One of the most expensive groups of beneficiaries, those enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid, would not be included in the caps. On the coverage side, states would eventually gain authority to control their Medicaid rolls to manage costs, could establish employment criteria for "able bodied" adults and charge recipients a modest amount. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll shows that 8 in 10 people nationally say lawmakers should preserve federal funding that has allowed states to add coverage for roughly 11 million low-income people. Almost 7 in 10 Republicans agreed, according to the survey by the nonpartisan group. Nevada's Sandoval said Medicaid enrollment doubled to 640,000 in his state as the result of the state's expanding coverage under the health care law. He, as is noted emphatically in the proposal, wants governors to be part of the decision-making. "I think it's important that before they make any decisions, they communicate with us," Sandoval said. "I don't want to see a cost shift. That would create a greater burden for my state as well as many others." ___ Associated Press reporters Alan Fram, Ben Nuckols and Ken Thomas contributed from Washington Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainecat Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Because it works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoslinger Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 (edited) the original orange man, Boehner, recently said the gop isn't going to do shit with obamacare. maybe a tweak, and call it their own. shocker. wtf is with the right liking orange men? Edited February 24, 2017 by Snoslinger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepr2 Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 3 minutes ago, Mainecat said: Because it works How well did lefts last presidential campaignwork? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepr2 Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Just now, Snoslinger said: the original orange man, Boehner, man said the gop isn't going to do shit with obamacare. maybe a tweak, and call it their own. shocker. wtf is with the right liking orange men? What's with the left blaming the right for their inability to,realize that a pathetic leftist full,of lies like Hilliary was not going to be a "wire to wire " landslide? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoslinger Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 :zzz: we'be hearing this from creepr for the next 20 years, like we're hearing the kennedy shit now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spin_dry Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 7 minutes ago, Snoslinger said: :zzz: we'be hearing this from creepr for the next 20 years, like we're hearing the kennedy shit now. he's a chronic case of internet flatulance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepr2 Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 More whining from the liberals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spin_dry Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 mid terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICEMAN! Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 1 minute ago, spin_dry said: mid terms. The more extreme the agenda, the more extreme the blowback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f7ben Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 5 minutes ago, ICEMAN! said: The more extreme the agenda, the more extreme the blowback. hence the R's having the whole government right now !! idiot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICEMAN! Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 12 minutes ago, f7ben said: hence the R's having the whole government right now !! idiot Well yea, it's a pendulum that swings back and forth ya hook nosed dummy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zambroski Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 22 minutes ago, ICEMAN! said: Well yea, it's a pendulum that swings back and forth ya hook nosed dummy Well, this "pendulum" swung over 1000 seats from D to R. Now that I think about it, he was good at something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spin_dry Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 4 hours ago, f7ben said: hence the R's having the whole government right now !! idiot i'm loving it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momorider Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 3 hours ago, spin_dry said: i'm loving it. Talk out of both sides of your mouth much???? Fucking hack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Aetna chief executive Mark Bertolini said Wednesday that the Affordable Care Act's exchanges — the marketplaces where consumers can buy individual health coverage under President Barack Obama's signature health-care law — are in a “death spiral.” Bertolini's remarks at the Wall Street Journal's the Future of Healthcare event came a day after the official end of his company's proposed merger with the health insurer Humana — a divorce that will cost Aetna a $1 billion breakup fee. It also came a day after Humana announced that it would pull out of all of its remaining ACA exchanges for 2018, arguing that the risk pool was unbalanced because not enough healthy people were signing up for insurance compared with the number of sick people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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