In a closed-door meeting Wednesday with Republican lawmakers in Montana, Ohio Gov. John Kasich made a forceful argument in favor of expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the Great Falls Tribune reported.
Kasich was in Montana as part of his national tour to advocate for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but the most lively discussion, per the Tribune’s account, focused on Obamacare. Montana’s GOP-led legislature rejected Medicaid expansion in 2013, though Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock unveiled a new expansion plan this week.
“I gotta tell you, turning down your money back to Montana on an ideological basis, when people can lose their lives because they get no help, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Kasich told his Republican colleagues at the meeting.
Kasich has been unique in his forceful defense of the program, viewed by hard-liners on the right as heresy for a conservative. He went around Ohio’s Republican-led legislature to adopt the expansion and has dismissed overall Obamacare repeal because it would undo the law’s Medicaid gains. While Obamacare is still anathema to conservatives, other Republican-controlled states have been slowly warming to Medicaid expansion.
According to the Tribune, one of the Montana Republicans who attended Kasich’s meeting called out the Ohio governor’s “hypocrisy” for accepting Medicaid expansion while advocating for a balanced budget amendment.
“I would be singing your praises and trying to convince you to run for president if you said no to Medicaid expansion,” state Sen. Scott Sales reportedly said.
In response to that criticim, Kasich continued to press the practical case for Medicaid expansion, which would cover up to 70,000 people in Montana.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever read Matthew 25, but I’d recommend it to you … about ‘do you feed the homeless and do you clothe the poor,'” Kasich said. “I’m a believer that it is in the conservative tradition to make sure we help people get on their feet so they then are not dependent.”
“In my state it’s working,” he continued. “People are healthier, they’re getting their lives back, they’re getting work, and that’s the reason I’m doing it.”
(h/t Greg Sargent)
