PHOENIX - Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona stepped to the lectern on Tuesday under blazing sunshine and before a mostly friendly audience to introduce a Medicaid expansion bill she has championed.
In her brief remarks, Ms. Brewer twice used the word “conservative†to describe Arizona’s Medicaid program, a managed-care system whose cost per patient is $680 less than the national average, and the bill she was endorsing, which would extend Medicaid coverage to anyone who made up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line.
Politically, it is a risky proposition in a state where Republicans are the majority in the legislature and where ideals like small government and small taxes are enough to carry people into elected office. And the proposal puts Ms. Breer, an aggressive opponent of President Obama’s policies, in a position of advocating one of the central pillars of his health care law.
Ms. Brewer had her way of packaging the news, though, saying that she is “proud to be a member of a pro-life party†and that being pro-life is exactly what expanding Medicaid - or restoring it, as she and her advisers have described it - is all about. (The state used to provide coverage for childless adults who made up to 100 percent of the federal poverty line, but discontinued it as a way to cut costs during the recession.)
The event, well choreographed and on time, brought together cancer survivors, advocates for the mentally ill, doctors in smocks and other supporters, who carried signs that read: “The math makes sense. Restore.†It came one day after a committee of senators in Florida handed a defeat to the state’s governor, Rick Scott, by rejecting his idea to expand Medicaid.
If approved in Arizona,! the expansion would bring in $8 billion to the state over the next four years and provide “a lifeline to rural hospitals,†which are struggling under the weight of caring for the uninsured who seek care in their emergency rooms, Ms. Brewer said.
It would also keep roughly 60,000 childless adults from being dropped off the rolls by Jan. 1 - including those who lost their jobs during the recession and are “one serious illness away from disaster,†she said.
Opponents have said Arizona would be better off if it opted out of the expansion, an important part of Mr. Obama’s health care overhaul, and sought to reform its Medicaid program on its own. There is also strong resistance among Republican legislators to an assessment - or a tax, depending on whom you ask - that would be charged to hospitals to offset the state’s share of the costs of the program.
Ms. Brewer and her team of supporters - more than 110 groups have come to her side, including associations representing hospitals, octors and even county sheriffs - have been working hard to get just enough support for the bill. Some legislators have been making their way through the Capitol carrying a list of eight Republican senators the governor believes she can get on her side.
