Updated: 4:43
p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, 2013 | Posted: 4:42 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, 2013
Ohio GOP governor backs federal Medicaid expansion
By ANN SANNER
The Associated
Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio
—
Ohio's
Republican governor announced Monday he will push for expanding Medicaid under
the federal health care
law, a move that would give many more poor people access to government care.
It also sets up a potential fight among the governor and Republicans who
control the state Legislature and are strongly against President
Barack Obama's health care law.
The state anticipates more than 365,000 Ohioans will be eligible for
coverage beginning in 2014 by expanding Medicaid, the health program for
the poor that already provides care for one of every five residents in the
state.
A broad group of Ohio's doctors, hospitals and health providers back
the idea, as does the Ohio AARP.
Gov.
John Kasich, who last summer called the federal health overhaul a
"massive new tax on the middle class," proposed the Medicaid
expansion in his two-year budget plan released Monday. He now must persuade
Republican state lawmakers to back the plan despite the fact that many dislike
the law's mandated coverage and campaigned against it just a few months ago.
Kasich reiterated his opposition to what he called "Obamacare,"
saying "I don't believe in the individual mandate."
"But I think that this makes great sense for the state of Ohio,"
he added.
If Ohio doesn't extend Medicaid, his administration said, federal tax
dollars will be used to expand health coverage in
other states and give businesses elsewhere a competitive advantage by creating
a healthier workforce.
The leader of the Ohio House has said his fellow Republicans have concerns
about the expense of expanding Medicaid. House Speaker William Batchelder told
reporters the idea also poses philosophical questions for lawmakers who oppose
the law's mandate that almost everyone obtain health insurance.
IN-DEPTH:
Kasich unveils budget plan for Ohio
Lower income. Sales
taxes. Tax services
Feb 5, 2013 |
Written by
Paul E. Kostyu
COLUMBUS — Ohio’s governor wants
to spend more money, but cut tax rates significantly over the next two years in
a budget called “Jobs 2.0” he released Monday.
GOP-run legislature makes
next moves
The budget proposal now
goes to the Legislature, where it will be dissected first in the House and then
in the Senate. The two chambers must approve the budget and Kasich sign it
before June 30, the end of the 2013 fiscal year.
Legislative leaders were
briefed on the budget Monday morning. House Speaker William G. Batchelder,
R-Medina, attended the more than 90-minute briefing of the budget by Kasich,
Budget Director Timothy S. Keen and other members of the administration.
Batchelder didn’t
comment, but he nodded his head in agreement throughout the news conference.
House Minority Leader Armond Budish, D-Beachwood, in a statement praised the
governor’s proposed expansion of Medicaid.
Kasich took pains to
reiterate his strong opposition to President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care
Act, but he also complimented the Obama administration for reaching out to Ohio
to discuss how the state can best move forward with the Medicaid expansion.
IN-DEPTH:
Ohio to seek expansion of Medicaid coverage
Kasich must now persuade
his own party to embrace one Obamacare option
Feb 5, 2013
Written by
Countless health care
groups and non-profits applauded Gov. John Kasich’s decision Monday to expand
Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands low-income Ohioans under his
proposed two-year state budget.
The move positions Ohio
among a growing contingent of Republican-led states that are leaning toward
extending coverage, an option given to states under the federal Affordable Care
Act, the law dubbed Obamacare and opposed by most GOP officials.
The proposal will now be
up to Ohio’s legislature to decide. That means Kasich will have to get to work
converting members of his own party in order to bring $13 billion in federal
funds to the state and extend coverage to at least 275,000 additional
low-income Ohioans.
“I am not a supporter of
Obamacare,” Kasich said Monday, “but I think (Medicaid expansion) makes great
sense for the state because it will allow us to deliver care using our dollars
for people who, up until now, haven’t been able to afford (healthcare
insurance) through their job, or they were not able to find a job.”
About 2.2 million Ohioans
currently have Medicaid coverage.
Kasich estimated that at
least 275,000 more Ohioans would be eligible under the expanded program. But
other estimates show as many as 600,000 Ohioans could be eligible.
Another 300,000 Ohioans
are expected to fall into a category officials call the “woodwork effect”:
People who are currently eligible but not enrolled and expected to sign up in
the coming years. The federal government would not be on the hook for covering
the costs those individuals, officials have said.
In Hamilton County, at
least 38,000 adults would meet the new income guidelines. Among them is Dennis
Gaitskill of Over-the-Rhine. The 53-year-old is a resident of the Jimmy Heath
House, a facility operated in part by Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health
Services. The non-profit serves local residents battling alcohol addiction and
homelessness.
In two years Gaitskill
has lived at the house, he says the facility has helped coordinate his medical
care and is helping him find a job. But without Medicaid, or an employer to
help cover his health insurance costs, he’s had to lean on local clinics in
lieu of a primary care doctor. He often goes without some pricier
prescriptions. He also has to wait months for test results that would otherwise
take a just days to get back from a primary physician.
“Now, I just get lost in
the system,” he said.
Under the expanded
program, 80 percent of Jimmy Heath’s 80 clients would be eligible for Medicaid.
“It’s going to be huge
for our folks,” said Gregg Pieples, program director at Jimmy Heath. “At least
18 percent of them have a cancer diagnosis. As it stands now, many are still
going to the emergency room to get care.”
The expanded program
“deserves thoughtful consideration by the legislature,” said House Speaker
William G. Batchelder, R-Medina, who has opposed the Affordable Care Act.
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