Health care isnt expected to take a starring role in the State of the Union speech Tuesday night but that doesnt mean it will be entirely absent.

The White House has invited Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear to sit with First Lady Michelle Obama during the speech because his states health insurance exchange worked surprisingly smoothly when others stumbled, and has now signed up 182,000 residents, chiefly in Medicaid.

Mr. Beshear, a Democrat in a red-leaning state, said in a December interview that the exchange was succeeding beyond our wildest dreams at this point, which he attributed to starting work early with a contractor that worked closely with state officials and took a no-frills approach to the site.

He also said he had a low-key marketing strategy: My message is You dont have to like the president. You dont have to like me, because its not about me. Its about you and your kids.

The GOP response from Washington state congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers is, as our colleague Rebecca Ballhaus reports, intended to be more of a vision speech rather than a policy rebuttal, but that doesnt mean you wont see a lot of very specific health-care points being made by Republicans, too.

Republican Reps. Greg Walden of Oregon, Bob Latta of Ohio, Steve Scalise and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana are bringing Americans negatively affected by Obamacare as their guests, the Republican National Committee says.

So is House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who is bringing four employers from his district. Mr. Boehners office has said his guests include two small business owners, one of whom has seen higher premiums to insure her workers and the other of whom is unwilling to grow his business because he doesnt want to be exposed to the requirement for bigger companies to provide coverage or pay a penalty.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has asked a St Cloud family physician, Julie Anderson. In a written statement released by Mrs. Bachmanns office, Dr. Anderson said she believed government intrusion in health care is eroding patient care and that I used to spend 90 percent of my work day seeing patients, now it is more like 50 percent with patients and the other 50 percent spent in front of a computer complying with burdensome regulations.

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Original post:

Health Care Is Ticket for Some SOTU Guests