--- title: Obamacare Repeal: Four Republican Governors Oppose Bill description: Four sitting Republican governors have come out against the GOP health care bill. canonical: https://time.com/4705157/obamacare-repeal-republican-governors/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-17T14:49:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:54:16.371Z article:section: Politics og:title: 4 Republican Governors Came Out Against the GOP Health Care Bill og:description: "It provides almost no new flexibility for states." og:url: https://time.com/4705157/obamacare-repeal-republican-governors/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fca4ffac1f68957/6988be0a0a4a227a239cd427/john-kasich.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Donald Trump,John Kasich og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Republican Governors Came Out Against the GOP Health Care Bill twitter:description: "It provides almost no new flexibility for states." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fca4ffac1f68957/6988be0a0a4a227a239cd427/john-kasich.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Republican Governors Came Out Against the GOP Health Care Bill > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 17, 2017 2:49 PM UTC  Ohio Gov. John Kasich walks out of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 24, 2017. Ohio Gov. John Kasich walks out of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 24, 2017.Evan Vucci—AP by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 17, 2017 2:49 PM UTC Four sitting Republican governors have come out against the [GOP health care bill](http://time.com/4704909/republican-gop-health-care-plan-trumpcare/). In [a joint letter sent Thursday to the leaders of the House and Senate](http://www.healthtransformation.ohio.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=S%5FgEqkALBFY%3d&tabid=160), the governors of Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and Arkansas argued that the “current version” of the American Health Care Act in the House hurts states. “It provides almost no new flexibility for states, does not ensure the resources necessary to make sure no one is left out, and shifts significant new costs to the state,” the letter says. It is signed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. All four states [accepted federal money](http://kff.org/health-reform/state-indicator/state-activity-around-expanding-medicaid-under-the-affordable-care-act/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D) to expand Medicaid in the Affordable Care Act. There are currently [33 Republican governors](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/12/these-3-maps-show-just-how-dominant-republicans-are-in-america-after-tuesday/?utm%5Fterm=.f4c42d7a4dca) in the U.S., 16 of which head states that expanded Medicaid. Other Republican governors have [raised concerns](http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/24/news/economy/republicans-governors-obamacare/) about the health care effort, particularly on Medicaid. The House bill would freeze the Medicaid expansion in all states by 2020, gradually shrinking the program’s enrollment over time, and cap Medicaid spending on individual enrollees. The four governors said they support “fundamental reform” of Medicaid, outlining an alternative approach that would give states the option to embrace their own reform or stick with the current formula with less federal money. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4705157/obamacare-repeal-republican-governors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4705157/obamacare-repeal-republican-governors/"},"headline":"4 Republican Governors Came Out Against the GOP Health Care Bill","datePublished":"2017-03-17T14:49:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:54:16.371Z","description":"Four sitting Republican governors have come out against the GOP health care bill.","url":"https://time.com/4705157/obamacare-repeal-republican-governors/","keywords":["Health Care","Congress","Medicaid","john kasich"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fca4ffac1f68957/6988be0a0a4a227a239cd427/john-kasich.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fca4ffac1f68957/6988be0a0a4a227a239cd427/john-kasich.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump,John Kasich","caption":"Donald Trump,John Kasich","creditText":"Evan Vucci—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health-care/","name":"Health Care"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4705157/obamacare-repeal-republican-governors/","name":"4 Republican Governors Came Out Against the GOP Health Care Bill"}}]}] ```