For months, Republican Gov. John Kasich has been talking about his work with Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on health insurance reform. A proposal from the governors may be close, but it won’t touch one of the most expensive and controversial points of the federal health care law.
The governors say their focus is just on stabilizing the insurance markets, which they think is the first step toward a bigger fix of the Affordable Care Act. And Kasich told Colorado Public Radio they’re not dealing with one huge cost issue that he and Hickenlooper agree needs to stay.
“We’re not even talking about Medicaid at this point because that’s part of Medicaid expansion. But we’re not going to go there now. That should come later as part of an overall entitlement reform package,” he said.
The governors say they’re working on how to manage high-cost pools and what to do with the employer mandate to offer insurance. A spokesman for Kasich’s office says an agreement with specifics that could be shared with the US Senate next month is coming, but maybe not in the next few days.
