John Kasich of Ohio, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Paul LePage of Maine are the latest Republican governors to announce a Pyrrhic victory for their party in the continuing fight over health care reform: They won?t set up insurance exchanges, meaning the federal government will assume responsibility instead.
?Ohio will not let the federal government take over any regulatory control of its insurance industry,? Mr. Kasich said in a statement, even though, as The Hill points out, ?that?s exactly what Kasich?s decision does.?
Likewise, John Boehner praised Mr. Kasich ?for taking a stand and resisting the federal takeover of healthcare in Ohio??neglecting to mention that the governor?s move actually guarantees a federal takeover.
Other governors who?ve pledged to stick it to the feds by giving them direct power over state-based marketplaces include: Rick Scott, Bobby Jindal, Sam Brownback, Rick Perry, Nikki Haley, Nathan Deal, Robert McDonnell, Robert Bentley, Dave Heineman, and Sean Parnell. Needless to say they?re all Republicans.
So many clich?s of the cut-off-nose-to-spite-face variety come to mind. In Maine, according to The Portland Press Herald, ?legislators from both parties? recognize that the governor?s recalcitrance has put the state in a less-than-optimal situation. ?Concerns about a federally-established exchange center on a lack of local control and a one-size-fits-all Web marketplace that may not work effectively, particularly in rural Maine where high-speed Internet access is limited. Some also worry that a federally-established exchange would include insurance plans that don?t fit the coverage needs of Maine?s population.?
Rep. Sharon Treat, the ranking Democrat on the Maine Legislature?s Insurance and Finance Committee, said: ?We had plenty of chances to create our own exchange and manage it, but we wasted two years doing nothing. Now it?s too late.?
In a letter to Health and Human Services, Mr. LePage called the Affordable Care Act ?a stepping stone to a single-payer system? and insisted that ?Maine will not be complicit in the degradation of our nation?s premier health care system.? Two points: 1) Few Americans would call our old system ?premier;? 2) Maine is now actively trying to damage our new system.
Source: http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/another-g-o-p-pyrrhic-victory/
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