In a speech to governors, President Obama just endorsed a plan to allow states to opt out of major provisions of the Affordable Care Act just as it’s set to kick in. Saying he recognizes that not everyone is a member of the “Affordable Care Act fan club,” Obama said, “I agree with Mitt Romney that…states should have the power to implement their own solutions.”

The plan Obama endorsed, first proposed back in November by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden and Republican Sen. Scott Brown, would give states flexibility to design their own versions of health reform. States could buck many aspects of the federal approach, including the individual mandate, employer requirements, health insurance exchanges and the federal design for insurance policies. Under this system, states would receive their share of insurance subsidies and administrative funding in blocks to implement their own reforms. In order to be granted a waiver to do this, a state would need to show its plan would:

* not increase the federal deficit
* provide insurance to as many people as the ACA
* provide insurance as least as comprehensive as that called for in the ACA
* provide insurance that’s just as affordable

While Obama is proposing the state opt-out plan now in order to appear responsive to Republican governors complaining about the ACA, the “Waiver for State Innovation” is already a part of the health reform law. It’s just now slated to become an available option for states in 2017. The Wyden-Brown plan – also championed by Democratic Sen. Mary Landreiu – would move that date back to 2014. That’s the year most the ACA is scheduled to begin.