The Federal Heath-Care Tease

Mr. Pawlenty last week issued an executive order forbidding any Minnesota department or agency from applying for grant funding or demonstration projects offered under ObamaCare, unless clearing it with his office (or unless required by law). The Governor tells us the health legislation offers “dozens” of such “teaser” grants designed to hook a state into a “new initiative or a new commitment or new spending that is federally directed.”

Only after the states are firmly ensconced do they become responsible for the huge bills. By that time, says Mr. Pawlenty, “It’s like the Hotel California. You can never check out.”

Mr. Pawlenty lists as his chief example ObamaCare’s planned expansion of Medicaid coverage for low-income childless adults, which will be required in all states in 2014. Minnesota was one of 11 offered the “opportunity” to do this expansion early, with the federal government initially footing much of the bill. Mr. Pawlenty turned the offer down in June, on grounds that even if the feds make good on the estimated $1.4 billion they would owe Minnesota over the first three years, the state would still be on the hook for $430 million—and for increasing amounts after that.

The Governor’s order is designed to make sure similar grants-with-strings don’t slip through the state bureaucracy, and that Minnesota isn’t wasting federal tax dollars on duplicate projects. One ObamaCare grant would give Minnesota money to study state health-care exchanges, but Mr. Pawlenty says his state has “already studied them and we concluded they aren’t going to work.” Another grant offers money for Minnesota to study high-risk insurance pools and potentially join a federal version. The Governor: “We already have” a high-risk pool that is “better and cheaper.”

The state will still consider grants or projects that are consistent with state initiatives. And Mr. Pawlenty acknowledges a future Governor could reverse some of his decisions. But for now he and others who opt out are doing their states a favor by refusing the expensive room and board at the Hotel ObamaCare