Governors attending the National Governors Association conference in Washington this week met with President Bush to discuss Medicaid. Governors and administration officials expressed doubt that they could reach a quick agreement on a package of cost saving changes in the health care program.

Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt has urged governors to embrace a number of program changes to save money and has urged them to move quickly to present a united front on Capitol Hill.

The rapid growth in Medicaid has severely strained state budgets and governors of both parties say the program must be restructured to save money and provide better health care for low-income Americans.

Governors are wary of making a deal without knowing more about whether they can fend off cuts the size Bush has recommended in his new budget. President Bush has recommended $60 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next ten years.

The Medicaid issue is a bipartisan one. Both Republican and Democrats face the same problems, as rising enrollment and growing health care costs have forced state executives to squeeze the program in the past few years. Governors, however, are divided over strategy.

Governor Leavitt told the governors that “there is not as much desire in the halls of Congress for a Medicaid debate and discussion” as there is in the states and that progress will require a consensus solution from the governors and the administration.

Some governors are concerned about locking themselves into a number, rather than looking at a broad array of reform that in turn will drive the budget number.