Washington Put Riordan Out Front on Health Issue

When the Bush administration decided this month to grant Gov. Gray Davis’ request to expand health insurance benefits to the poor, its first call was not to Davis but to his No. 1 Republican rival, gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan.

A top aide to Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson called Riordan’s campaign office a week before the announcement of a state and federal effort to begin offering health coverage to 300,000 uninsured Californians.

The call tipped off Riordan that the Republican Bush administration was about to approve California’s request to expand the program, according to a Riordan advisor. And the aide invited the former Los Angeles mayor to step in at the last minute and take credit for influencing the decision.

As soon as the extension was announced, that’s exactly what Riordan did.

“I lobbied for that,” he said two days before the Democratic governor’s appearance with Thompson. “I had a lot to do with getting it.”

The maneuvering behind the scenes signals the emergence of health care as a potent issue in the gubernatorial campaign. It also highlights the degree to which political considerations will help shape the public agenda this year.

It addition, it reflects the sense in the Riordan and Davis camps that they will be the candidates to compete in November for the governorship. Davis faces no serious opposition in the Democratic primary, but to reach the November election, Riordan must defeat Secretary of State Bill Jones and businessman Bill Simon Jr. on March 5. Still, Riordan and Davis already have begun exchanging barbs in television ads.

With an estimated 7 million Californians uninsured--and countless others dissatisfied with their medical coverage--Davis and Riordan have seized on health care to score points with voters.

On Tuesday, the governor proposed new rules to set minimum nurse staffing levels in hospitals. On Wednesday, he pledged to spend $60 million to educate nurses. On Friday, he announced public forums in Fresno, Sacramento, Oakland and Manhattan Beach to explore options to expand health coverage. In the first television ad of his reelection campaign, he touts his record on health care.

“I think it’s one of the strongest aspects of his record, and one we’ll have no hesitation in communicating,” said Davis pollster Paul Maslin. “It’s an important part of his going to the voters and saying, ‘This is why you should reelect me.’ ”

It’s especially appealing, Maslin said, to women and Latinos. Both groups have been strong Democratic Party constituencies and key components of the governor’s political base. They also are the source of fierce competition between Davis and Riordan.

Health Care Is a Riordan Favorite

On Friday, Davis’ concern over Riordan’s appeals to female voters was underscored by his release of a TV spot saying the former Los Angeles mayor opposed “a woman’s right to choose.” Riordan supports abortion rights, but the ad cited--among other things--his donations to anti-abortion candidates.

For Riordan, health care has been a favorite issue on the stump. He often describes California’s system as “in total crisis.” Although he has not proposed any remedies, he describes health care as a “God-given right.” It’s a position that has drawn criticism from GOP rival Jones.

“Dick, who do you propose will pick up the tab for the . . . cost of extending health care coverage to the uninsured?” Jones asked Friday in a speech to Latino business leaders in Irvine.

At the center of campaign squabbles over health care in recent days is the federal program that insures children of the working poor. Launched during President Clinton’s administration, it covers families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private health insurance. Nationwide, it insures more than 3 million children. In the 2000 presidential campaign, Vice President Al Gore often called it a key accomplishment.

For Davis too, the program is a showcase issue. In his first TV spot, he takes credit for expanding it to 500,000 children. The program requires states to match the federal spending. California’s program, known as Healthy Families, began under the governor’s Republican predecessor, Pete Wilson.

In December 2000, Davis asked the federal government for permission to expand Healthy Families to cover 300,000 parents, not just children.

But since then, the state has plunged into a budget crisis, creating a political mess for Davis in the midst of his reelection campaign. Facing a shortfall of more than $12 billion, Davis turned to Healthy Families to help bridge the gap. To save $200 million, he proposed postponing the program’s expansion to parents until July 2003.

The move drew sharp rebukes from Riordan and health care advocates, who accused the governor of neglecting the needs of the poor. It also gave the Bush administration an opportunity to intensify Davis’ political discomfort by approving his application for the expansion even as he was trying to back away from it.

With some Democrats on his left calling for a tax increase and Republicans on his right accusing him of reckless spending, Davis would be forced to scramble for the $200 million.

In California, the first word of Thompson’s imminent approval of a waiver to offer Healthy Families coverage to parents came from Christopher J. McCabe, chief liaison to state and local governments at the Department of Health and Human Services.

But instead of telling the Davis administration, McCabe, a former Maryland state senator, alerted the Riordan campaign, according to an advisor to the GOP candidate. The Riordan advisor, who declined to be named, said McCabe suggested: “If we felt we wanted to rip off a letter indicating that we wanted to encourage the government to cause the waiver to occur, that would be fine.”

In his Jan. 18 letter, Riordan told Thompson the waiver was “particularly important to California as the state currently faces a serious and troublesome budget deficit.”

“I look forward to what I hope will be your prompt and favorable response to our appeal,” Riordan wrote.

On Jan. 19, the Riordan campaign e-mailed the letter to reporters. Four days later, the Davis administration learned from the news media that Thompson was going to approve the expansion, said Diana M. Bonta, state health services director.

Riordan Says Bush Urged Him to Run

McCabe declined to say why the Bush administration gave advance notice to the Riordan campaign.

“I’m not at liberty to say,” he said.

Thompson, a former governor of Wisconsin, said he was unaware that McCabe had made the call.

“If he did, he did it on his own,” Thompson said.

White House political operatives say Bush is neutral in the GOP primary for governor, but Riordan has said the president encouraged him last year to run. At a campaign stop Wednesday in Salinas, Riordan wondered whether the Bush administration was giving him credit for the Healthy Families waiver.

“Did they mention me and my lobbying?” he asked. “I’m sure they did. I talked to Tommy Thompson and his chief of staff.”

An aide to the governor said the timing of the federal approval appeared to be “a squeeze play” to embarrass the governor after he postponed the program. With Thompson standing next to him Friday at a health clinic in heavily Latino East Los Angeles, Davis pledged Friday to start “looking for the money immediately.”

“This is not bad news; this is good news,” he said.

Thompson denied political motives in handling California’s request.

“I assure you it’s not politics, because I happen to like your governor,” Thompson said.

Since taking office in 1999, Davis has signed a patients’ “bill of rights” law. It set up a new agency to oversee health maintenance organizations and some large medical groups and created a limited right to sue HMOs.

But Davis’ proposed budget cuts--notably reductions in emergency medical care money and the Healthy Families postponement--have angered health care advocates. Physicians’ groups and others also have objected to some Davis policies.

“He has somewhat reluctantly supported the Healthy Families expansion, which is a huge step, and he finished the job that Wilson started in terms of managed care reform,” said Helen Schauffler, director of the Center for Health and Public Policy at UC Berkeley. “But beyond that, health has not been a priority.”

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Times staff writers Duke Helfand and Dan Morain contributed to this report.