Some states seek flexibility to push healthcare overhaul further

As far as health-reform boosters go, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is among the most stalwart. "We want to show that health reform is something real, that it actually works," he said. "Oregon is a place that can actually make it happen." His state has aggressively implemented the health overhaul Congress passed last year, taking more than $100 million in federal funding to do so. But at the same time, the healthcare law puts Kitzhaber (D) in a bind. This year, Oregon passed its own plan, which starts with changing how it pays doctors and eventually ends with allowing public employees to enroll in Medicaid, the federal insurance program for low-income Americans. There's just one big obstacle: What Oregon wants to do would require the Obama administration to waive integral pillars of its signature legislative accomplishment.