Medicaid struggle all about power

Back in my sports-writing days, the most perceptive quote I ever heard came out of the mouth of Ivan Lendl, a Czech tennis player, prior to the finals of the U.S. Open.

At a press conference, Lendl was asked how he planned to counter the serve-and-volley game of his opponent, Boris Becker.

To which he replied, "At this level, it's not about the tennis."

The unspoken profundity was that there comes a point when evenly matched, well-prepared foes collide and the competition, no matter the venue, isn't a matter of who has the best form or best record, it's who has the will to win, no matter what.

As Yogi Berra might put it, it's not about what it's about.

Such was the case with the recently concluded political showdown over whether $2 million in emergency Medicaid dental benefits should be funded for the aged and disabled.

On one side of the metaphorical net stood Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who was in favor of funding the $2 million.

On the other side stood Republican legislators who were not.

The governor used his office to set up a special legislative session where he urged the emergency appropriation for the poor to be debated and passed.

In turn, the Republican lawmakers, who were the legislative majority, refused to debate or vote on the issue. They used their office to let the governor know he couldn't tell them what to do and to avoid going on the public record against something as humane as helping an indigent person with a screaming toothache.

Politically, the Republican legislators prevailed, as they usually do. Their clout trumped the governor's clout. Chalk up another "W" for the Yankees of Utah.

Meanwhile, lost in the smoke were the estimated 40,000 aged and disabled Utahns who are on Medicaid and as of July 1 are facing roughly the same options for dental care as Tom Hanks on that deserted island in "Castaway."

The only consolation for the poor is that it wasn't personal, just political. The battle was never about their dental needs any more than it was about the money. For a Legislature that just finished divvying up $1 billion, $2 million is ashtray change.