This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Obamacare is what we have to work with. Fix it. — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial

" ... For seven years, the Republicans who rule this state without significant opposition have been so obsessed with their dislike for the Democratic president's signature legislation that they have left what now amounts to some $940 million in federal Medicaid funds on the table.

"They chose that rather than play along with a plan to spare many of the state's lower-income households a life without the kind of access to health care that all residents of civilized nations have long taken for granted. Rather than boost the state's health care sector. Rather than receive millions that would make significant dents in the state's homelessness, addiction and criminal justice problems.

"Four years ago, Gov. Gary Herbert put forward a workable alternative called Healthy Utah which, he hoped, would be unique and business-oriented enough to be approved. The Legislature blocked it, arguing, among other things, that it was unwise to hitch Utah's wagon to Obamacare's star because it would be going away, if not soon, then at least whenever a Republican entered the White House.

"Now that we have all been disabused of that fantasy, it is time to dispose of some other fairy tales as well. ...

Republicans for Single-Payer Health Care — David Leonhardt | The New York Times

"Without a viable health care agenda of their own, Republicans now face a choice between two options: Obamacare and a gradual shift toward a single-payer system. The early signs suggest they will choose single payer.

"That would be the height of political irony, of course. Donald Trump, Paul Ryan and Tom Price may succeed where left-wing dreamers have long failed and move the country toward socialized medicine. And they would do it unwittingly, by undermining the most conservative health care system that Americans are willing to accept.

"You've no doubt heard of that conservative system. It's called Obamacare. ..."

" ... Paul Ryan promised his donors yesterday that he will keep pushing to overhaul the health care system this year, despite his failure last week. But in the 19 states that never expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the calculus has quickly changed.

"A lot of state legislators, including Republicans, are putting more stock in what the Speaker said Friday, that Obamacare will be the law of the land for the foreseeable future.

"The bill that was being considered in the House would have phased out the expansion under the 2010 law, which has already grown the Medicaid rolls by more than 11 million people. It could have left states holding the bag over the next couple of years.

"With Obamacare repeal less likely, opponents of expansion in the states have just lost their best argument. ...

In Health Bill's Defeat, Medicaid Comes of Age — Kate Zernike, Abby Goodnough and Pam Belluck | The New York Times

" ... Medicaid now provides medical care to four out of 10 American children. It covers the costs of nearly half of all births in the United States. It pays for the care for two-thirds of people in nursing homes. And it provides for 10 million children and adults with physical or mental disabilities. For states, it accounts for 60 percent of federal funding — meaning that cuts hurt not only poor and middle-class families caring for their children with autism or dying parents, but also bond ratings. ..."

Lawmakers in deep-red Kansas just voted to expand Medicaid — Jose A. DelReal and Sandhya Somashekhar | The Washington Post

" ... The Kansas state Senate voted 25 to 14 Tuesday to expand Medicaid — the state-federal program for the poor — extending eligibility to about 150,000 additional low-income people. The measure, which passed the House last week, succeeded with the support of all the Democrats in the legislature as well as a number of newly elected moderate Republicans who campaigned on a promise to broaden the program.

"Gov. Sam Brownback (R) is widely expected to reject the measure, however, and the legislature was shy of mustering the two-thirds vote necessary to override a veto. ..."

McAuliffe says 'no more excuses' not to expand Medicaid after Trump plan failure — Michael Martz | Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch

Americans want a health care solution that works for everyone — Kathleen Sebelius | For The Kansas City Star

" ... I continue to believe that most Americans think everyone should have health care. And while the current law is far from perfect and would benefit from some bipartisan improvements, it is by any measure — coverage, cost, continuity of care — vastly superior to the law Republicans proposed and then couldn't pass last week."

Congress shouldn't snatch Medicaid expansion away — New Orleans Times-Picayune Editorial

" ... New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has said the Medicaid-expansion provision has helped New Orleans maintain a system of primary care clinics developed post-Katrina that should be a model for other communities. ..."

Medicaid block grants would be a disaster — St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial

" ... If the federal government caps its share, and the state government no longer has to cover programs that the feds say are mandatory, then the state can save money, too. The losers would be the children of the poor and working poor, very poor parents (earning no more than $77 a week), pregnant women, seniors in nursing homes and the disabled. ..."

In humiliating the poor, lawmakers embarrass themselves — Kansas City Star Editorial

"Congress will be with us always, but our representatives could do themselves and their constituents a favor if they stopped indulging in the mistaken notion that low-income families are coddled in this country, living on more government largesse than is good for them....

" ... Those public officials who seem to suffer from a certain poverty of spirit should stop trying to humiliate the poor and instead try to figure out how to provide the same excellent health care coverage that members of Congress enjoy to those they serve. Meanwhile, in recycling trash talk about those they ought to be supporting rather than denigrating, they're only embarrassing themselves."