Medicaid Expansion in Ohio: The Choice is Clear
E X E C U T I V E S U M M A RY
In its decision to uphold the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the U.S. Supreme Court also held that states were not required to implement an expansion of Medicaid, which the law initially mandated. This leaves Ohio policymakers with a choice; accept federal funding to expand Ohio Medicaid to cover able-bodied, working-age adults with no children or reject the optional Medicaid expansion called for in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Eight Reasons Medicaid Expansion is Wrong for Ohio Patients and Taxpayers
- Able-bodied childless adults have never been—and were never intended to be— eligible for taxpayer-funded Medicaid. (Page 5)
Medicaid was created to be a health care safety net for the most vulnerable: the elderly, individuals who are blind or disabled, and low-income families. A recent poll found that 77 percent of Americans oppose providing Medicaid for working-age adults without kids.
- Medicaid costs are growing and jeopardizing all other state priorities. (Page 7)
Between 2000 and 2011, Ohio’s Medicaid welfare spending grew from $7.5 billion to nearly $16 billion. Governor Kasich’s latest budget proposal increases Medicaid welfare spending even more, to $21.5 billion in fiscal year 2014 and $23.6 billion in fiscal year 2015. If Ohio expands Medicaid, total Medicaid welfare spending could rise to $321 billion during the next decade.
- Ohio policymakers have no reliable cost estimates on which to base their decision. (Page 8)
A series of groups have released cost projections were Ohio to expand Medicaid, but modest differences in enrollment assumptions and costs to provide care for the newly-eligible populations have resulted in a wide-range of estimates.
