COLUMBUS, Ohio – No sooner had the State Controlling Board cast the vote that made Gov. John Kasich’s Medicaid expansion plan official than opponents began lining up to stop it and such a move more difficult in the future.
Several state lawmakers and a conservative constitutional law group are expected to file a lawsuit as early as today, asking the Ohio Supreme Court to block the plan, claiming the Controlling Board broke the law in approving more than $2.5 billion to give health coverage to more low-income Ohioans.
The panel voted 5-2 to back the Kasich administration’s request to spend $561.7 million over the next two fiscal years to cover Ohioans making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The funds are being made available from Washington as part of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform plan.
At issue is whether the legislature’s rejection of Medicaid expansion earlier this year made related action by the Controlling Board illegal. Lawmakers removed the provision from Kasich’s budget amid pressure from Tea Party groups.
While conservative lawmakers, whose names were not released, and the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law plan to take their case to the state Supreme Court, state Senate President Keith Faber (R-Celina) is taking the legislative route.
“The Senate has taken proactive steps to introduce a comprehensive Medicaid reform plan focused on capping growth and demanding maximum accountability and efficiency. Our legislation also includes a bicameral, bipartisan committee to oversee the performance of the Medicaid system and the achievement of the established goals,” he said after the vote.
Faber also says the Senate would recover approximately $400 million budgeted for the health care industry which would be used for a 4 percent statewide income tax cut.
Senators will also be asked to consider legislation reining in the Controlling Board. A measure will be introduced which Faber says will curtail the board’s “ability to make such sweeping adjustments in budget items that are better considered by the legislature as a whole.”