15 July, 2017
Vice President Mike Pence promised governors broader authority to craft their own health care programs on Friday as he sold the Republican health care bill, a measure now struggling to get the 50 votes needed to pass the Senate.
USA governors meeting in Rhode Island are having mixed reactions to the unveiling of the new health care bill, with some Democrats calling it a nonstarter and some Republicans heralding it as progress. "We believe the Senate health care bill begins to make the president's vision a reality".
"He understands that we want to work together in a bipartisan way", he said. He said it puts more emphasis on state control and flexibility to design health care programs.
Pence is introducing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and says the Trump administration is looking forward to renegotiating NAFTA in a way that will equally benefit the USA and Canada. Pence and Trudeau met to talk about trade on the sidelines of the meeting.
Pence's most important sales job was aimed at one person: Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval.
Sandoval had characterized his reaction to the latest Republican health care bill as one of "great concern" immediately after it was released Thursday. But he remains concerned about Congress shifting costs to the states to maintain the same level of Medicaid coverage they have committed to. Some 11 million Americans in 31 states have benefited from expanded Medicaid.
Sandoval said Pence had some very positive things to say about the effort to make the bill better.
The latest Senate bill tries to help those markets by providing more money for states to help lower health insurance costs for residents and allowing insurers to sell low-cost, skimpy policies.
The nation's governors anxiously await the end result of the Senate GOP's attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, with the potential loss of Medicaid expansion remaining a prime concern for many state leaders, according to NBC News.
Gov. Gina Raimondo is the official host of the event, which is drawing a mix of Republican and Democratic governors from around the US.
"There's a high degree of anxiety", she said.
A governors-only session on Saturday will give them a chance to ask questions of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and Seema Verma, the administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The vice president touted the Republican health care bill's option to block grant Medicaid to the states, and increased funding for combating opioid abuse in the revamped Senate bill.
