COLUMBUS, Ohio — Washington’s approach to health care over the past decade is yet another example of our lawmakers’ increasing distance from the rest of America. First one party rams through a rigid, convoluted plan that drives up costs though unsustainable mechanisms that are now unraveling. Then the other party pursues fixes that go too far the other way — and again ignores ideas from the other side.

Neither extreme is cutting it, and the quick opposition that doomed the Senate plan reflects how unacceptable its ideas are to so many. The American people want and deserve reasonable, balanced, sustainable health care so that they can live without the fear of bankruptcy if they get sick, our most vulnerable neighbors are treated with compassion and those who seek to improve their lives can get healthy, confront addiction and get work.

Despite weeks of hard effort, the Senate plan was rejected by governors in both parties because of its unsustainable reductions to Medicaid. Cutting these funds without giving states the flexibility to innovate and manage those cuts is a serious blow to states’ fiscal health at a time when most — Ohio included — are feeling headwinds from a softening national economy. And, unlike the federal government, states must balance their budgets. Particularly problematic was the bill’s failure to adequately meet addiction and mental health needs — which often occur together. Diverting funds away from the comprehensive, integrated physical and mental health care that is proving effective is a step backward.

The Senate plan also failed to repair Obamacare’s damage to the insurance markets. Insufficient tax credits would make coverage unaffordable for many lower income Americans: Two of the subsidies in the bill would be temporary and a third would likely be unsustainably underfunded. Congress should avoid doing anything likely to cause further instability in the huge and complex private insurance market.