COLUMBUS, Ohio – The seven-member state Controlling Board is scheduled to vote Monday on Gov. John Kasich’s request to authorize spending federal money on more than a quarter of a million newly eligible Medicaid enrollees.
The panel includes two Democrats and a Kasich appointee who are expected to favor the request. That leaves the governor in search of a single vote among his fellow Republicans.
Kasich has proposed using federal dollars to expand Medicaid to 275,000 more Ohioans but some activists are concerned about Ohioans who will not qualify for Medicaid, even under the new requirements, and will not be eligible for tax credits to buy insurance on the government-run exchanges because their incomes are too low.
“They would not be eligible to purchase insurance on the marketplace with the help of subsidies, so it is a very tragic coverage gap that would continue under health-care reform unless the expansion is adopted,” says Col Owens, co-chair of Ohio Consumers for Health Coverage.
“It’s really important to point out that many of them do work, they work for very low pay, perhaps part-time minimum wage jobs and yet are under the poverty level and would be unable to buy insurance,” he said.
The GOP-controlled Legislature has so far resisted Medicaid expansion. Opponents say the federal funds available through the Affordable Care Act will add to the deficit and the quality of health care will not improve.