Terra Goodnight · June 29, 2017

Tell Governor Kasich to Veto Attacks on Medicaid

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.