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Ohio lawmakers join Congress in efforts to kill Obamacare

July 20, 2017 by Terra Goodnight

Trumpcare: Where We Stand

The Senate plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act effectively died Monday, as four GOP Senators announced opposition to the bill. In response, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell now says he will bring a repeal-only bill to the floor in the coming days. According to the Congressional Budget Office, such a move would be disastrous:

32 million would lose coverage by 2026; 18 million would become uninsured in 2018 alone.
Premiums would rise by 25% next year, then 50% in two years, and doubling by 2026.
Insurers would leave the individual market.
Households earning over $1 million would see over $50,000 per year in tax breaks.

It’s unlikely the repeal path will succeed. Senators Murkowski, Capito and Collins have all said they will oppose a motion to start debate on the repeal bill, already denying McConnell the 50 votes necessary to move the bill. Rob Portman has expressed strong concerns that the approach causes too much uncertainty, but hasn’t yet committed to voting no. Governor Kasich, for his part, signed onto a letter with a bipartisan group of 11 governors opposing the repeal and replace later approach.

The latest effort is to work out a deal on Medicaid with Senate moderates. There is also strong pressure being applied to moderates like Portman from conservative groups that tend to fund their campaigns, so we are by no means out of the woods.

Other Congressional Threats to Healthcare

While larger health reform efforts have been unsuccessful, the House budget resolution for the upcoming fiscal year offers an alternative path to the same outcome. The House plan would cut $1.5 trillion from Medicaid, change it into a block grant and end expansion – a more severe proposal than anything in either the House or Senate plans. The GOP caucus may be unable to reach middle ground on this plan, but one way or another they want to find a way to make deep cuts to Medicaid in order to pay for tax cuts. Stay tuned to the budget process.

Medicaid in the Crosshairs of Ohio Lawmakers

The future of healthcare is also on the minds of lawmakers here in Ohio and activists will need to continue to pay attention at the state level to prevent massive loss of health coverage.

First, lawmakers still have hopes of thinning the ranks of Medicaid enrollees through the so-called “Healthy Ohio” program, which would require low-income Ohioans to pay into health savings accounts or risk losing Medicaid. The measure was vetoed by Governor Kasich, but the House voted to override the Governor earlier this month. The Senate is taking the summer off, but could join their House colleagues in an override vote as early as mid-August. For more on the veto override process, see our earlier blog post.

Beyond the budget, a number of other bills currently pending in the Ohio Statehouse reflect the ongoing debate over the future of the Affordable Care Act:

SB99 would close Ohio’s Medicaid program to new enrollment in the expansion group (working age adults with incomes below 138 percent of poverty). SB168 ends Medicaid expansion entirely.

Neither of the measures have made it out of committee, but are a sure sign that no matter what happens in Congress, Ohio lawmakers have the capacity and willingness to act unilaterally to deny healthcare to thousands if they so choose.

For their part, Ohio Democrats have introduced legislation to dramatically reshape Ohio’s healthcare universe. Senate Bill 91, sponsored by Senators Mike Skindell and Charleta Tavares would establish a single-payer healthcare program, available to all state residents, including the homeless and migrant workers. The bill has only had a single hearing in the Senate Insurance and Financial Institutions committee.

As advocates for universal, affordable healthcare, we must pay attention not only to Congress, also developments at the state level, staying in constant touch with state lawmakers.

For the latest information on legislation moving at the Ohio Statehouse, sign up for updates from the relevant committee that a bill is assigned to, and stay tuned to IO’s legislative alerts to find out if they begin to move forward.

The Budget Vetoes: Where We Stand Now

July 11, 2017 by Chase Brown

Much of what happened last week at the Statehouse was unprecedented. For the first time since 1977, a chamber of the General Assembly voted to overturn a Governor’s veto. All told, the House of Representatives voted to overturn 11 of Kasich’s 47 vetoes. Thankfully, the Medicaid expansion freeze veto was not among the 11.

Since this is unprecedented, let’s talk about process for a moment. The Ohio Constitution gives the General Assembly the authority to override a Governor’s veto with a three-fifths majority vote by each chamber. The relevant provision, Article II § 16, does not assign a specific timeline for the General Assembly to override the Governor’s veto. Therefore, the General Assembly has until the end of the legislature’s term to override a veto. In this case, the legislature could wait until December of 2018 to vote to override.

This is important for two reasons. First, as of now, the Senate has not conveyed whether or not it intends to vote to override any of the Governor’s vetoes. The chamber just cancelled two as-needed sessions scheduled for July 18^th and 19^th, and it doesn’t appear they will be back until after summer recess. Typically, the two chambers will adjourn for recess after a budget vote – and will not come back until September.

Secondly, just because the House did not vote to override the Medicaid expansion freeze veto in its initial round of veto overrides does not mean it won’t do so in the future. In fact, Speaker Rosenberger has publicly stated that his chamber may revisit the issue once the federal government comes to a resolution to its ongoing push to enact healthcare reform. In my opinion, it is likely a forgone conclusion that if the federal government were to reduce its pledged financial obligations to the state regarding Medicaid then we will see the General Assembly vote to override Kasich’s veto on the freeze.

What does all of this mean? Uncertainty. Which is a bad way for a state to operate – especially around its budget – which is something relied upon by every single citizen, company, organization, and local government as they plan their future.

For example, a few of the vetoed provisions overridden by the House dealt with the administration of Medicaid – essentially taking authority from the executive branch and transferring it to the legislature. The Governor’s Budget Director Tim Keen, recently stated that if these measures were enacted it would create a $1.4 billion shortfall in Ohio’s budget. This is because the Governor’s proposed budget accounted for $1.4 billion in anticipated savings due to future Medicaid policy changes. The final budget passed out of the General Assembly eliminated the ability for the Governor to enact those cost saving measures – but still accounted for the savings therefore creating a significant shortfall.

For now, we will have to wait and see how the two chambers will proceed on these vetoes. It appears to be an issue that will not be resolved any time soon and will likely hang as a cloud over state government.

Statehouse Preview – Week of July 3

July 3, 2017 by Terra Goodnight

We honestly didn’t expect to be sending an email this week. Typically the General Assembly would be quiet for the holiday, but lawmakers plans to convene on Thursday to override many of the Governor’s budget vetoes, perhaps weakening the state’s gun laws while they’re in town.

AT THE STATEHOUSE – BUDGET VETO SHOWDOWN

On Friday, Governor Kasich announced he had vetoed 47 items in the state budget. Read the Governor’s veto announcement. Among the Kasich vetoes:

Three provisions to limit Medicaid expansion enrollment, including the freeze.
Changes to an oversight board that would have made it easier to allow fracking in state parks.
A proposal to consider the closure of state agencies every four years.
A plan to allow local telephone companies to stop offering basic lifeline service.
State funding cuts for Columbus over certain water and sewer charges.
A legislative fix to replace $200 in lost annual sales tax revenue, essential to the operation of counties and transit agencies.
A mandate to seek a waiver of federal Medicaid rules prohibiting inpatient treatment in facilities with more than 16 beds, a barrier to overcoming addiction.

House Session Scheduled Thursday

In response, Republican lawmakers threatened to override the Governor, scheduling a rare holiday-week House session Thursday to hold votes. The budget passed the chamber 59-40 (see how your lawmakers voted), but needs 60 votes to override. It’s important that lawmakers hear from constituents this week. Contact yours now.

Gun Bills in Committee

Just one committee is meeting this week. House Federalism and Interstate Relations will hold a rare holiday-week hearing on Wednesday to pass three controversial gun measures (HB142, HB233 & HB201). The bills could be on the House floor Thursday.

Take Action

Let the Veto Stand – Governor Kasich used his line-item veto to protect Medicaid expansion, a program that provides healthcare to very low-income Ohioans. Tell your State Representative and Senator to let Governor Kasich’s veto stand. Use our easy letter-writing tool or find your lawmaker’s contact info at legislature.ohio.gov.

Lawmakers May Vote to Override Kasich Medicaid Veto

July 3, 2017 by Terra Goodnight

Success! Thanks to an outpouring of support, Governor Kasich heeded the call to veto a proposal in the state budget to end enrollment in the Medicaid expansion starting in July, 2018.

But lawmakers haven’t given up. House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger has scheduled an unusual holiday-week legislative session for Thursday, July 6 at 9am, and has indicated there are enough votes in his chamber to override the Governor’s veto (the bill received 59 of the 60 votes needed for a veto override, but some “no” votes came from conservative lawmakers who may be persuaded to flip). Senate President Larry Obhof, whose chamber passed the budget with a veto-proof margin has not scheduled a date to hold an override vote but expressed confidence his chamber would do so.

To clear this one last hurdle to protect Medicaid expansion enrollees, lawmakers need to hear from their constituents. Contact your State Senator and State Representative or ask them NOT to vote to override the Governor’s veto of the Medicaid freeze.

Tell Governor Kasich to Veto Attacks on Medicaid

June 29, 2017 by Terra Goodnight

Congress may be struggling to pass a bill to roll back healthcare, but lawmakers in Ohio are not. Yesterday, both GOP-controlled chambers of the Ohio legislature voted to approve a two-year state budget that takes direct aim at Medicaid expansion.

There are three main ways the budget bill (House Bill 49) that Governor Kasich must sign by midnight Friday will have a significant impact on access to healthcare for Ohio’s Medicaid expansion population (low income adults with incomes below 138 percent of federal poverty):

Ends enrollment to low-income Ohioans starting in July, 2018, except for prior Medicaid enrollees diagnosed with mental illness or addiction
Eliminates expanded Medicaid coverage for unemployed adults under 55
Introduces monthly premiums and terminates coverage for non-payment

Read more about the Ohio budget attacks to Medicaid on our blog. Without a veto, these three provisions will combine to have a devastating impact on the ability for low-income Ohioans to access healthcare, and on the state’s main tool for fighting the scourge of addiction.

Call (614 466-3555) or email Governor Kasich TODAY and ask him to veto the Medicaid freeze, work requirements and monthly premiums in House Bill 49.