http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/arizona-jan-brewer-medicaid-obamacare-92304.html?ml=po_r
Arizonaâs Jan Brewer becomes unlikely ally of Obamacare
By: Kyle Cheney
June 5, 2013 06:48 PM EDT
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has become an unlikely warrior for Obamacare.
Brewer is a conservative Republican who sued to topple the health law, refused to set up a health insurance exchange and memorably wagged her finger at President Barack Obama on a Phoenix airport tarmac. But now sheâs so determined to put the Obamacare Medicaid expansion in place in her state that sheâs vetoing any legislation that reaches her desk until the Republican Legislature caves.
Her entire weekâs schedule is five words long: âHold for budget, Medicaid negotiations.â
(PHOTOS: The eight GOP governors who said yes to Medicaid expansion)
Itâs a posture thatâs confounding conservatives who once embraced her for signing a toughest-in-the-nation crackdown on illegal immigrants and for defying the Obama White House.
Brewer says itâs been quite the firestorm, but she insists that expansion saves money and saves lives â and that everybody would realize that if they werenât so âhung up on the factâ that it was part of Obamaâs health law.
âWe were all so adamant that we didnât like Obamacare. We fought tooth and nail. But there comes a time, and you have to look at the reality. You have to do the math,â Brewer told POLITICO in a phone interview. âI did not make this decision lightly. ⦠Itâs not only a mathematical issue, but itâs a moral issue.â
(Also on POLITICO: TOP 5 complaints about Obamacare)
Brewer is not the only Republican governor to pursue Medicaid expansion, but sheâs the most avid. Ohio Gov. John Kasich drew scorn from conservatives this week when, in a USA Today op-ed, he suggested Ronald Reagan would have supported expansion. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder recently invited Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to come lobby reluctant lawmakers. Florida Gov. Rick Scott, among the nationâs most vocal critics of Obamacare, stunned people on both ends of the spectrum in February, when he endorsed adding about 1 million Floridians to the Medicaid rolls. But he didnât make expansion a centerpiece of his agenda.
Brewer, in contrast, has made a campaign-style push. She has held rallies with advocates who typically battle Republicans, given speeches, aired commercials and traveled the state pushing the message. Her spokesman, Matthew Benson, said an outside coalition, including the state hospital association, has helped raise $1 million for the effort with Brewerâs encouragement.
She predicts sheâll get her bill through the Legislature with support from Democrats and just enough Republicans. It could happen within a week or so.
But that wonât end the controversy.
âThat we are getting Obamacare by our governor is shocking, to say the least. Thereâs no words to describe it,â said Christine Bauserman, a Republican activist from Pima County who says Brewer mistakenly thinks the Medicaid position will make her more popular. âI believe sheâs in a bubble room wrapped with bubble wrap with cotton balls in her ears.â
Critics like Bauserman are promising to push for a ballot initiative that could stretch the fight all the way to the November 2014 elections and put the brakes on expansion until at least 2015. That would mean the state would lose out on the roughly $1.5 billion of federal Medicaid funds that would be available next year.
The second-term governor said her stance on Medicaid doesnât mean sheâs changed her mind about Obamacare. Her website still calls it âan assault on Statesâ rights and individual liberty.â But she explained, âOur Medicaid program was here long before Obama health care.â
She also said that Medicaid-related questions have been on the ballot in the state twice â and voters supported expansion of the stateâs relatively generous program both times. Parts were later frozen because money ran short, but those federal dollars under expansion would reopen enrollment.
Many on the right have been apoplectic. National Review in a recent editorial described her push as âeconomic illiteracyâ and a misguided âtantrum.â Republican analysts says sheâs been seduced by the promise of billions of federal dollars to support Medicaid expansion or that sheâs caved to the powerful hospital lobby.
But others say her willingness to go to the mat for an element of Obamacare shouldnât be a shock, that she has a track record of championing divisive causes that donât always align with her conservatism. For instance, Brewer took on her party in support of a temporary 1-cent sales tax increase in 2010. (That tax hike expired last week).
âShe dug in with the same type of vigor on that fight,â said Jason Rose, a Republican consultant based in Phoenix. âSheâs looking at the math and putting aside her philosophical opposition to Obamacare.â
Rose added, though, that Brewerâs push could have consequences for her party: Some Republican lawmakers will most likely lose in next yearâs primaries if they vote for expansion.
The Arizona chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business said its members would make their displeasure clear. âIt will continue to be a defining political issue for years to come as politicians are made to answer to their constituents for their vote on Medicaid expansion. We are confident that as time passes, those supporting Medicaid expansion will regret their decision or be made to regret it by the voters,â state NFIB head Farrell Quinlan wrote in an email to POLITICO.
Advocates for Obamacare see Brewerâs support as pragmatic, a choice they say any governor would make if politics were taken out of the equation. Brewerâs office estimates that accepting expansion will restore coverage for 240,000 people frozen out of Medicaid for lack of funds in 2011 and extend coverage to 57,000 more.
âOne of the things Iâve said over and over again is that any governor or state legislator who rejects the Medicaid expansion is committing fiscal malpractice,â said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. âIn Brewerâs case, virtually every one of the local chambers of commerce were saying, support this. ⦠There is strong support that comes from a traditional Republican base.â
But those in the GOP pushing hardest against expansion disagree.
âThe voters here in Arizona arenât stupid. They will kill this,â said former Republican lawmaker Frank Antenori, who is working on the petition drive. If the expansion passes and Brewer signs it into law, the critics would have 90 days to collect about 90,000 signatures to get the referendum on the ballot.
Brewerâs office disputes the legality of the effort, contending that the Medicaid expansion is intertwined with the state budget, which is exempt from voter referendums. But Antenori said legal scholars have backed him up and that defeating expansion will be a âslam-dunkâ once it gets on the ballot.
âWe did an internal poll two weeks ago that showed if you add the word âObamacare,â or âadministered by the IRSâ ⦠it goes down, and it goes down heavy,â he said.
Brewer hopes that the intensity of the fight over expansion doesnât linger, particularly between her and her longtime Republican allies in the Legislature.
âI hope not. Iâve been an elected official in the state of Arizona for 30 years. Ive been through a lot of battles. We all have to remember, itâs not a personal thing,â she said. âWe will move on. I hope that they can see through all of that.â
Arizonaâs Jan Brewer becomes unlikely ally of Obamacare
By: Kyle Cheney
June 5, 2013 06:48 PM EDT
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has become an unlikely warrior for Obamacare.
Brewer is a conservative Republican who sued to topple the health law, refused to set up a health insurance exchange and memorably wagged her finger at President Barack Obama on a Phoenix airport tarmac. But now sheâs so determined to put the Obamacare Medicaid expansion in place in her state that sheâs vetoing any legislation that reaches her desk until the Republican Legislature caves.
Her entire weekâs schedule is five words long: âHold for budget, Medicaid negotiations.â
(PHOTOS: The eight GOP governors who said yes to Medicaid expansion)
Itâs a posture thatâs confounding conservatives who once embraced her for signing a toughest-in-the-nation crackdown on illegal immigrants and for defying the Obama White House.
Brewer says itâs been quite the firestorm, but she insists that expansion saves money and saves lives â and that everybody would realize that if they werenât so âhung up on the factâ that it was part of Obamaâs health law.
âWe were all so adamant that we didnât like Obamacare. We fought tooth and nail. But there comes a time, and you have to look at the reality. You have to do the math,â Brewer told POLITICO in a phone interview. âI did not make this decision lightly. ⦠Itâs not only a mathematical issue, but itâs a moral issue.â
(Also on POLITICO: TOP 5 complaints about Obamacare)
Brewer is not the only Republican governor to pursue Medicaid expansion, but sheâs the most avid. Ohio Gov. John Kasich drew scorn from conservatives this week when, in a USA Today op-ed, he suggested Ronald Reagan would have supported expansion. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder recently invited Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to come lobby reluctant lawmakers. Florida Gov. Rick Scott, among the nationâs most vocal critics of Obamacare, stunned people on both ends of the spectrum in February, when he endorsed adding about 1 million Floridians to the Medicaid rolls. But he didnât make expansion a centerpiece of his agenda.
Brewer, in contrast, has made a campaign-style push. She has held rallies with advocates who typically battle Republicans, given speeches, aired commercials and traveled the state pushing the message. Her spokesman, Matthew Benson, said an outside coalition, including the state hospital association, has helped raise $1 million for the effort with Brewerâs encouragement.
She predicts sheâll get her bill through the Legislature with support from Democrats and just enough Republicans. It could happen within a week or so.
But that wonât end the controversy.
âThat we are getting Obamacare by our governor is shocking, to say the least. Thereâs no words to describe it,â said Christine Bauserman, a Republican activist from Pima County who says Brewer mistakenly thinks the Medicaid position will make her more popular. âI believe sheâs in a bubble room wrapped with bubble wrap with cotton balls in her ears.â
Critics like Bauserman are promising to push for a ballot initiative that could stretch the fight all the way to the November 2014 elections and put the brakes on expansion until at least 2015. That would mean the state would lose out on the roughly $1.5 billion of federal Medicaid funds that would be available next year.
The second-term governor said her stance on Medicaid doesnât mean sheâs changed her mind about Obamacare. Her website still calls it âan assault on Statesâ rights and individual liberty.â But she explained, âOur Medicaid program was here long before Obama health care.â
She also said that Medicaid-related questions have been on the ballot in the state twice â and voters supported expansion of the stateâs relatively generous program both times. Parts were later frozen because money ran short, but those federal dollars under expansion would reopen enrollment.
Many on the right have been apoplectic. National Review in a recent editorial described her push as âeconomic illiteracyâ and a misguided âtantrum.â Republican analysts says sheâs been seduced by the promise of billions of federal dollars to support Medicaid expansion or that sheâs caved to the powerful hospital lobby.
But others say her willingness to go to the mat for an element of Obamacare shouldnât be a shock, that she has a track record of championing divisive causes that donât always align with her conservatism. For instance, Brewer took on her party in support of a temporary 1-cent sales tax increase in 2010. (That tax hike expired last week).
âShe dug in with the same type of vigor on that fight,â said Jason Rose, a Republican consultant based in Phoenix. âSheâs looking at the math and putting aside her philosophical opposition to Obamacare.â
Rose added, though, that Brewerâs push could have consequences for her party: Some Republican lawmakers will most likely lose in next yearâs primaries if they vote for expansion.
The Arizona chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business said its members would make their displeasure clear. âIt will continue to be a defining political issue for years to come as politicians are made to answer to their constituents for their vote on Medicaid expansion. We are confident that as time passes, those supporting Medicaid expansion will regret their decision or be made to regret it by the voters,â state NFIB head Farrell Quinlan wrote in an email to POLITICO.
Advocates for Obamacare see Brewerâs support as pragmatic, a choice they say any governor would make if politics were taken out of the equation. Brewerâs office estimates that accepting expansion will restore coverage for 240,000 people frozen out of Medicaid for lack of funds in 2011 and extend coverage to 57,000 more.
âOne of the things Iâve said over and over again is that any governor or state legislator who rejects the Medicaid expansion is committing fiscal malpractice,â said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. âIn Brewerâs case, virtually every one of the local chambers of commerce were saying, support this. ⦠There is strong support that comes from a traditional Republican base.â
But those in the GOP pushing hardest against expansion disagree.
âThe voters here in Arizona arenât stupid. They will kill this,â said former Republican lawmaker Frank Antenori, who is working on the petition drive. If the expansion passes and Brewer signs it into law, the critics would have 90 days to collect about 90,000 signatures to get the referendum on the ballot.
Brewerâs office disputes the legality of the effort, contending that the Medicaid expansion is intertwined with the state budget, which is exempt from voter referendums. But Antenori said legal scholars have backed him up and that defeating expansion will be a âslam-dunkâ once it gets on the ballot.
âWe did an internal poll two weeks ago that showed if you add the word âObamacare,â or âadministered by the IRSâ ⦠it goes down, and it goes down heavy,â he said.
Brewer hopes that the intensity of the fight over expansion doesnât linger, particularly between her and her longtime Republican allies in the Legislature.
âI hope not. Iâve been an elected official in the state of Arizona for 30 years. Ive been through a lot of battles. We all have to remember, itâs not a personal thing,â she said. âWe will move on. I hope that they can see through all of that.â
