GOP governors say health 'deals' are being cut without their input

"Twenty Republican governors and governors-elect are accusing the White House of providing too little transparency on health care, causing worry that 'deals' are being cut without their input," Politico reports. "In a letter sent Wednesday to the Congressional leaders of both parties, the governors wrote that they are 'disappointed with the lack of transparency' as health care moves forward. … The letter comes, in part, as a response to the Obama administration's move to bring in Democratic governors to stump for the bill ahead of its expected passage" (Barr, 1/14).

The Providence Journal reports that Rhode Island Attorney General and Democratic candidate for governor Patrick C. Lynch "has decried what he calls a 'sweetheart deal' exempting Nebraska from significant new Medicaid costs in the proposed overhaul of the nation's health-care system." Lynch "supports the drive to remake American medicine," and his opposition to the Medicaid deal "is noteworthy in part because it includes a key line of criticism from Republicans… who staunchly oppose the legislation." In an interview Thursday, Lynch said "Washington shouldn't force costs on states that the states can't afford to bear" (Mulligan, 1/15).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.