The AP says it correctly quoted Kasich predicting that the law will not be repealed. Kasich spars with AP

What, exactly, is Obamacare?

According to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, it doesn’t include Medicaid expansion, a major facet of the law.


It’s a view held by virtually no one else. Kasich’s unorthodox view of the Affordable Care Act — and the hunger the Republican base has for the health care law’s repeal — are behind a two-day public spat between the possible 2016 contender and The Associated Press.

The AP reported that Kasich said a Republican-majority Senate would not repeal Obamacare.

( Also on POLITICO: Kasich: Repeal ACA but not all of it)

Kasich said the AP got it wrong: He said he was talking specifically about repeal of the expansion of Medicaid — which Ohio has implemented — and not the entire Affordable Care Act.

But then, in a statement Tuesday, the newswire said that it had accurately quoted the Ohio Republican predicting that the law will not be repealed.

A recording provided by Kasich’s office reveals that the conversation shifted immediately from Kasich’s efforts to win support for renewing Medicaid expansion in Ohio to another threat to that measure. In both the campaign’s three-minute recording and a shorter transcript from the AP, reporter Julie Carr Smyth makes no mention of Obamacare more broadly or other aspects of the ACA.

“So, if the Republicans take the Senate, do you think you’ll have to work to, um, you’ll have to work advocating for it in Washington as well?” asked Smyth.

( Also on POLITICO: President Kasich?)

That’s when Kasich replied, “They’re not gonna repeal it.” Kasich maintains he was talking about Medicaid, not the whole ACA, and that he has consistently separated the two.

Medicaid expansion is a key component of the ACA; more people have enrolled in the public aid program than have signed up on the exchanges, and states that chose to expand showed much greater decreases in the uninsured population than those that refused. Repealing “every page” of the ACA, as Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz have called for, would mean ending Medicaid expansion.

But Kasich does not see it that way. “I do not support Obamacare,” he told POLITICO on Monday evening. “I have favored expanding Medicaid, but I don’t really see expanding Medicaid as really connected to Obamacare.”

It’s his long-held view. Even as Kasich bypassed Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature to enact the expansion last year, he repeatedly said it was not an endorsement of Obamacare.

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But the AP does not appear to be indulging this nuance.

“The Associated Press stands by its reporting,” said AP Washington bureau chief Sally Buzbee. “We accurately quoted Ohio Gov. John Kasich as predicting that repeal won’t happen and that helping poor people gain health coverage is more powerful than political or ideological opposition.”

The wire service updated its story Monday evening to reflect that Kasich was referring only to Medicaid expansion only after his staff and Kasich himself called to assert that point.

“As AP customarily does with many stories, we updated our report with the new comments from Kasich and his staff,” said Buzbee. “We did not change Kasich’s original quote about a repeal because it was and remains accurate.”

No one disputes the accuracy of the quote, said Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols, just the context.

“For them to fail to acknowledge their error and instead claim we ‘clarified,’ makes it seem like we backpedaled on something when we didn’t,” said Nichols. “It’s frustrating that they weren’t big enough to acknowledge an innocent mistake and simply fix it.”