Governors oppose Obama Medicaid plan

The National Governors Association on Saturday pressed President Obama and congressional leaders not to pursue Medicaid cuts the White House has proposed, and to instead repeal a provision of healthcare reform.

Several proposals to cut Medicaid have been floated as negotiators look for spending cuts to accompany an increase in the debt ceiling. But the governors said their "highest concern" is with Obama's proposal. It would blend various rates of federal funding into a single percentage.

"Make no mistake: these reductions are significant and cannot be absorbed into state budgets or simply passed on to providers of health services for our Medicaid populations," the NGA said in a letter to Obama and the leaders of both parties in the House and Senate.

Governors said the blended Medicaid rate would be made worse by a provision of healthcare reform that bars states from cutting eligibility levels for the program before 2014. The letter reiterates a call to repeal that section of the new law, which Medicaid advocates strongly oppose.

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