Democrats in Arkansas next year can’t escape the debate over the health care overhaul. They can at least try to change the conversation in their favor.
The dispute between Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s administration and legislative Republicans over whether to implement the health insurance exchanges required under the federal law is the latest sign that health care will be just as dominant an issue in the 2012 elections in Arkansas as it was in 2010. It’s also a sign that Beebe and other Democrats are more willing to pick that fight, but on their terms.
Wading back into the health care debate is a scary prospect for Democrats after the Republicans made historic gains last November. Those GOP wins came from candidates who focused on President Barack Obama and his policies, even in local and legislative races that had little to do with either.
Instead of focusing on the overhaul itself, the debate is shifting to one of its key components.
Beebe decided against applying for a $3.8 million grant from the federal government to plan for the exchange, an online marketplace for individuals and small businesses to shop for health insurance. The federal law requires states to either set up an exchange or face the prospect of one established for them by the federal government.
A bill authorizing Arkansas to set up its exchange stalled in the Legislature earlier this year, but the state can still seek the federal funds to plan for an exchange. Beebe didn’t need lawmakers’ authorization to seek the funds, but said he wouldn’t do it without their backing.
“I wasn’t going to act unilaterally,” Beebe said. “This is not a dictatorship. I take into consideration the Legislature and trying to work cooperatively…They’ve made their choice.”
That choice, Beebe and Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford argue, means that Arkansas won’t have control over its exchange and will instead see the program run by the federal government.
Republicans complained that Beebe didn’t need their input on the grant, and suggested that politics was the main reason for doing so.
“He didn’t need it, so why else ask?” House Minority Leader John Burris said. “It wasn’t because he needed the approval.”
Burris and a group of Republican lawmakers told Beebe in a letter objecting to the grant that they preferred a “wait and see” approach, and said that applying for the grant could undermine other states’ lawsuits challenging the health care law. Lt. Gov. Mark Darr, a Republican considered a potential candidate for Beebe’s job in 2014, praised the lawmakers for the move.
“There’s no such thing as free money,” Darr said.
Beebe is not a likely ally for the Obama administration on the health care fight. The second-term governor has said he would have voted against the law and has voiced concerns about how much it will cost the state.
And Democrats aren’t the only ones who will have to grapple with how to handle the health care debate. The split among some Arkansas Republicans over whether to support Mitt Romney or Rick Perry’s presidential bid could come down to the same issue.
That much was clear as Darr and Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin endorsed Romney, but with Darr offering his support in spite of misgivings about the health care reforms Romney enacted as Massachusetts governor. Those reforms included a requirement that residents purchase health care, a mandate that critics have compared to the federal health care law.
But the debate over health exchanges comes as Republicans hope to build on last year’s gains in their efforts to win both chambers of the state Legislature. It also continues a fight Beebe had with GOP lawmakers earlier this year over legislation allowing the state to set up the exchange. Though Beebe could issue an executive order authorizing the exchange, he’s said that’s not a step he’s willing to take.
Beebe and Democrats say this isn’t a fight over the health care law. To them, it’s a fight between state and federal control.
“We’ll live with the consequences, so if Washington ends up running our health exchange, so be it,” he said in April.
Democrats said that Beebe’s argument was boosted by a fellow governor, but not one from his own party. Republican Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona, visiting Little Rock to raise money for the Arkansas GOP, defended her decision to seek a similar $29.8 million grant for her state despite her opposition to the health care overhaul.
“I would rather have not had to ask for the money, but certainly I know life is full of risks,” Brewer said. “If some part of the Obama plan does find muster, Arizona will be prepared. That’s what I do as governor of Arizona, and that’s be prepared and do the right thing for Arizona.”
The major difference, Republicans argue, is that Brewer is fighting to overturn the federal law.
“The key distinction is she is also participating in the lawsuit to repeal health care reform,” Burris said.
Whether or not voters agree with that distinction could be a deciding factor in an election that Democrats hope won’t mirror last year’s results.
Topics Legislation Arkansas Arizona
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