Wash. gov expresses health care concern after meeting

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – Gov. Jay Inslee says that health care discussions at a weekend meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington, D.C. were “very troubling, very disturbing and not at all reassuring.”

Inslee spoke with reporters by phone Monday on the last day of the gathering. He cited a consultant’s report shared with the governors about the fiscal impact of a Medicaid overhaul on states, noting that it predicted that Medicaid reforms being proposed by House Republicans would result in tens of thousands of people losing their insurance coverage in an average-size state.

Inslee said that on Monday, he sought assurance from Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price that whatever replaced the Affordable Care Act would not result in people losing insurance. He said he did not receive that assurance.

Inslee was among governors who met Monday morning with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, but Inslee said that Trump mostly took questions from Republican governors.