Washington – The nation’s governors left Washington Monday aware they are going to be asked to pick up more of the burden of health care costs for their poorest residents but not knowing where they will get the money to do so.

That was the sober message delivered by Republican congressional leaders and President Trump during three days of discussion over what will replace the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, when and if it is repealed.

“It’s a work in progress,” said Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, co-chairman of the National Governors Conference that held its annual conference here over the weekend.

“It’s gelatinous,” said Republican Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin. “There’s a lot of ideas, a lot of moving parts, a lot of governors with different ideological perspectives– all of that is in the cauldron right now.”

Trump, at a televised meeting Monday with the country’s largest health insurers, admitted the task of repealing Obamacare and replacing it is far more complex than imagined.

“No one knew health care could be so complicated,” said Trump, adding he’ll offer ideas the governors will find “really, really good” when he addresses Congress  and the nation Tuesday night in his first State of the Union message.

Several governors said they were shocked when health care consultants told them during a closed briefing Saturday that an idea under consideration by House Republicans would result in cuts to states and an increase in the uninsured.

McAuliffe said the briefing was “clearly alarming to everybody in the room . . . scary.”

McAuliffe then told a press conference Monday Democratic and Republican governors were in agreement in telling Trump, “we do not want one single person to lose access to quality health care.”

Disagreements arose, however, between governors on how to make that happen.

“We’ve got a $3 billion deficit,” responded Democrat Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf when asked how his state will fare with reduced federal Medicaid funding. “I’ll let you answer that question.”

House Republicans are considering capping federal Medicaid payments to the states and reducing it in those states participating in Medicaid expansion to low-income adults making a third more than the federal poverty level.

The Medicaid program, which provides health insurance to the poor and disabled, is the largest single source of federal funding to the states, amounting to more than half-a-trillion dollars.

The loss of funds could force states to reduce the number of people eligible for coverage, curtail health care benefits or require more cost-sharing, according to a report by Avalere Health and McKinsey & Co. to the governors.

The report also said House replacement for the Affordable Care Act’s premium subsidies would not be based on income, resulting in more lower-income people unable to afford insurance.

The Affordable Care Act  extended health care insurance to more than 20 million Americans. Recent public opinion polls show the Obama administration law has been gaining favorability with voters as Trump and Congress struggled with their pledge to repeal and replace it.

Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy, a Democrat, told reporters some Republican governors discussed a compromise suggested by Ohio’s GOP governor, John Kasich, to set income limits for the Medicaid expansion program. States affected would receive federal funding only for those recipients at the federal poverty level ($20,430 for a family of four). Coverage now extends to Americans who are 38 percent above the poverty line.

But Malloy said that would be “devastating for rural communities.” The idea did not have a consensus, even among Republican governors — 16 of whom are from states that have expanded Medicaid.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he agreed with his fellow Republicans in Congress that “the federal government shouldn’t have to pay for it (Medicaid) alone.” But rather than cut funding to the states, he added, Congress should give governors more flexibility to reduce Medicaid costs through measures like work requirements for recipients.

Bevin, Kentucky’s governor, challenged the focus on the states’ loss of funding. He said taxpayers would benefit from federal budget reductions, adding the president and Congress need to change “the not so affordable care act.”

Republican governors from Iowa, Indiana and Massachusetts declined to discuss the details of their meetings with Trump, congressional leaders and health care industry officials.

Asked if the the prospect of fewer federal health care dollars would hurt Iowa, Gov. Terry Brandstad replied as he worked his way through a crowd of reporters Saturday, “that’s what Obamacare has done.”

Gov. Charlie Baker, a moderate Republican from Massachuseets, declined comment several times during the three-day conference, including once Sunday as he stood in a long line at a Starbucks.

Kery Murakami is a reporter for CNHI in Washington. Contact him at kmurakami@cnhi.com.