Columbus Dispatch...
Kasich rallies his GOP peers over Medicaid  
December 5, 2011 

ORLANDO, Fla. — If Republican governors band together to formally push the federal government for more freedom to run their states’ Medicaid programs, Gov. John Kasich would have to get the credit for founding the movement. 

And Kasich, who pleaded for a states’ lobby for Medicaid freedoms the past two days at the Republican Governors Association’s annual conference, might get partial credit for coining the movement’s slogan if those pleas materialize. 

“Let’s occupy Washington,” Kasich joked during a panel discussion yesterday that also included Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Florida Gov. Rick Scott. 

GOP strategist and pollster Frank Luntz reportedly made a similar comment Wednesday to RGA attendees when discussing how to turn the national conversation away from the Occupy Wall Street movement. 

Kasich made the remark while Scott was lamenting what he described as inaction by the federal government on Medicaid reforms that passed in Florida this year. Ohio’s governor, who through the state budget has enacted his own set of Medicaid reforms, has insisted this week that Republican governors uniformly push President Barack Obama and Congress for more freedom to construct and manage federally funded Medicaid programs. 

Kasich is frustrated by slow movement in Washington to formulate a new waiver process in which states can opt out of some federal guidelines. Doing so would enable them to better manage cases for people who are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare — which is entirely federally funded and not typically coordinated with the states. 

“If the federal government would give us the flexibility to manage Medicaid, and that doesn’t mean spend federal dollars on highway projects, like they were doing 15 or 20 years ago, but give us the ability to manage Medicaid, I have no doubt that we would cover more people at a lower price with a better quality outcome,” Kasich said. He made the same case for the restrictions tied to federal dollars funneled to states for worker training. 

The state’s Medicaid program covers 2 million poor and disabled Ohioans. 

The Kasich administration has already crafted managed-care programs for seniors that enable them to receive home care instead of nursing-home care, and for “health homes” for patients with physical and mental illnesses that are intended to both improve care and lower state costs. But to widen managed-care programs to include “dual eligibles,” the state would need to acquire a federal waiver. 

Kasich’s advisers say that the path has been cleared federally for states to obtain the kind of waiver Ohio would need to run Medicaid as he intends. Kasich is frustrated with the slow pace of obtaining a waiver, but other states, such as Indiana, have had their waiver requests rejected by the Obama administration. 

“We ought to concentrate on this because we’ve been stiffed so far,” Daniels said. 

Kasich said federal guidelines are in place to prevent states from using Medicaid dollars for other purposes. 

“Then force us to spend it, but give us our money,” Kasich said. 

The panel discussion, in front of the entire conference, was meant for the participating governors to discuss reforms they’ve made in their states. On the topic of economic development, Daniels quipped to Kasich: “Ohio was a lot of fun to compete with until you got there.” 

Kasich told The Dispatch he intends to go to Indianapolis with his staff to talk policy with Daniels and his staff, praising Indiana’s governor for enacting reforms related to performance pay for public workers. Merit pay for public employees was among the items rejected by Ohio voters who overturned Senate Bill 5 in a referendum. 

Kasich left Orlando to return to Ohio yesterday afternoon. 

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