In spite of election claims, Rep. and Dem. governors will work to implement health care reform

As more Republican governors took control of state governments in last week's election, more states are likely to take a limited, free-market approach to implementing health care reform. "Although the law is a federal statute, it tasks states with administering many of its most important provisions and grants them considerable leeway," N. C. Aizenman of The Washington Post reports. "It is up to states to run markets, known as 'exchanges,' through which individuals and small businesses will be able to buy health insurance plans, often with federal subsidies, beginning in 2014."

Many newly elected Republican governors made disapproval of the Obama administration's health care reform law a central point of their campaigns. States can't prevent the laws' implementation as the federal government is permitted to step in to run an exchange if the state hasn't done so by 2014. Still, the law gives states a fair amount of discretion, leading analysts to predict "Democratic governors and legislatures are likely to emphasize vigorous regulation and government oversight, while Republican state leaders are likely to put greater stock in privatization and other free-market approaches," Aizenman writes.

Republicans gained at least eight gubernatorial seats last week and now control both branches of government in at least 20 states. While many governors have openly campaigned against the law, several analysts predict they will still work behind the scenes with the Obama administration in implementing the law. "I have yet to meet a governor who has said, 'I'm going to intentionally do a bad job at this to make another level of government look bad,'" Alan Weil, executive director of the nonpartisan National Academy for State Health Policy, said. "They're accountable to the people, and the voters are too smart to let someone get away with that." (Read more)