Irony Alert: GOP Governors Now Begging Republican Congress To Not Repeal Obamacare

If you thought only Democrats and progressives were opposed to repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), then you may be surprised to learn that Republican governors in several states are asking Congress and Donald Trump not to do a full repeal of what has become known as Obamacare.

In particular, some GOP governors are asking the House and Senate to not rescind the part of the ACA that supports the expansion of Medicaid in states that choose to do so.

Next week, Ohio Governor John Kasich will meet with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch as part of an effort to make sure the Senate doesn’t cut funding for an expansion of Medicaid. And Ari Adler, a spokesman for Michigan Governor Rick Snyder told the Huffington Post:

“(Snyder) has been open to discussing with them other ideas they may have regarding changes to the ACA. Too often, it seems that the ACA gets reported on as an all-or-nothing package, but there are many separate components that exist. In Michigan’s case, we took the idea of Medicaid expansion, made it our own, improved it and made it work better. But, as you know, everything is up for discussion and the Governor is happy to have those discussions.”

Kasich and Snyder are far from the only Republican governors who don’t want to see a total trashing of Obamacare. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, and Brian Sandoval of Nevada have offered similar concerns and also expressed concerns about how ACA repeal might blow massive holes in their state budgets.

Now consider the nightmare scenario for Republican governors in states that depend heavily on the healthcare funding Obamacare provides: Congress doesn’t keep the money in for Medicaid expansion, meaning the states are forced to either raise taxes or cut benefits to those who qualify for Medicaid. That leads to public anger and translates into gains for Democrats in now-red states.

Looks like the national GOP is more than willing to cut off their own nose to spite their face, and those of their colleagues in the states, too.

This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org

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