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Results mixed for GOP governors seeking Medicaid expansion

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2015 file photo, Gov. Bill Haslam delivers his annual State of the State address to the Tennessee Legislature in Nashville, Tenn. Years of Republican attacks on President Barack Obama’s health care law may have paid dividends at the ballot box, but they also made it much harder for GOP governors to make the case that expanding Medicaid in their states is a good idea. Haslam corralled the broad support of business groups and the state's powerful health care industry for his plan to cover 280,000 low-income residents. He ended up losing out to a steady drumbeat of anti-Obama rhetoric and threats of primary challenges to Republican lawmakers who considered going along. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2015 file photo, Gov. Bill Haslam delivers his annual State of the State address to the Tennessee Legislature in Nashville, Tenn. Years of Republican attacks on President Barack Obama’s health care law may have paid dividends at the ballot box, but they also made it much harder for GOP governors to make the case that expanding Medicaid in their states is a good idea. Haslam corralled the broad support of business groups and the state's powerful health care industry for his plan to cover 280,000 low-income residents. He ended up losing out to a steady drumbeat of anti-Obama rhetoric and threats of primary challenges to Republican lawmakers who considered going along. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2015 file photo, Gov. Bill Haslam delivers his annual State of the State address to the Tennessee Legislature in Nashville, Tenn. Years of Republican attacks on President Barack Obama’s health care law may have paid dividends at the ballot box, but they also made it much harder for GOP governors to make the case that expanding Medicaid in their states is a good idea. Haslam corralled the broad support of business groups and the state's powerful health care industry for his plan to cover 280,000 low-income residents. He ended up losing out to a steady drumbeat of anti-Obama rhetoric and threats of primary challenges to Republican lawmakers who considered going along. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

By Associated Press 1 min read

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Years of Republican attacks on President Barack Obama’s health care law may have paid dividends at the ballot box, but they also made it much harder for GOP governors to make the case that expanding Medicaid in their states is a good idea.

In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam had gathered broad support for his plan to cover 280,000 low-income residents, but he ended up losing out to a steady drumbeat of anti-Obama rhetoric and threats of primary challenges to Republican supporters.

A similar proposal failed in the Wyoming Legislature amid a heavy strain of mistrust of federal government programs.

But Indiana’s conservative Gov. Mike Pence wasn’t required to seek legislative approval for his Medicaid plan. And in Arkansas newly elected Republican Gov. Asa Hutchison got lawmakers to OK an extension.