Overnight Healthcare: GOP governors defend Medicaid expansion

Several Republican governors are defending ObamaCare’s expansion of Medicaid in their states, highlighting a thorny issue for Republicans as they navigate repeal of the health law.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), whose state has expanded Medicaid, offered a defense of his state’s program, called Healthy Michigan, upon leaving a meeting between governors and GOP lawmakers in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

“We have over 600,000 Michiganders, and we have a lot of positive data showing some good things going on in our state with this program,” Snyder said. “Healthy Michigan has had a lot of success, both in terms of healthier behaviors and better outcomes helping people.”

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In a letter to Congress sent Wednesday, Ohio Gov. John Kasich also urged lawmakers in his party to keep the Medicaid expansion.

“We strongly recommend states be granted the flexibility to retain the adult Medicaid coverage expansion,” Kasich wrote in the letter. Read more here. http://bit.ly/2jDRlVP

Ron Johnson: Let’s work with Dems to fix ObamaCare

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said Thursday that he thinks Republicans should work with Democrats to “fix” ObamaCare.

The remarks strike a more pragmatic and cautious tone on ObamaCare than the usual Republican rhetoric of “repeal and replace.”

“Let’s start working with Democrats. Let’s transition to a system that will actually work, that, you know, Democrats are talking about. They want to fix it. Well, let’s fix it for the benefit of the American public,” Johnson said on CNBC.

Johnson even specifically rejected the Republican mantra of “repeal and replace,” which has been embraced by President-elect Donald Trump and congressional leaders.

“From my standpoint, I’ve been talking about repairing the damage and then transitioning to a system that actually works,” Johnson said. “That takes some time. It’s way more complex than simply repeal and replace. That’s a fun little buzzword, but it’s just not accurate.” Read more here. http://bit.ly/2jDROHB

Poll: Nearly half favor ObamaCare

Americans are largely split over ObamaCare, according to a new poll.

A CNN/ORC poll finds that 49 percent of Americans favor ObamaCare. But 47 percent of respondents oppose President Obama’s signature healthcare legislation.

The poll marks the first time more people have said they favor the healthcare law than oppose it since it passed in 2010, CNN noted. Read more here. http://bit.ly/2k5Q7PB

What we’re reading

Trump says private firms can fix ObamaCare but they underpin the ACA (NBC News)

Changes to Obamacare could extend to your health plan, too (Kaiser Health News)

ObamaCare signups continue to slightly outpace last year’s (CNBC)

State by state

At a Virginia Planned Parenthood clinic, practitioners worry for their patients (NPR)

GOP governors who turned down Medicaid money have hands out (AP)