Innovation Ohio

What you need to know about Ohio Politics and Policy

Three reasons for states (Ohio) to accept health reform’s Medicaid expansion

As the Kasich Administration decides whether or not to participate in the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, an analyst at the Center for Budget & Policy Priorities provides three essential reasons why saying ‘yes’ would be good public and economic policy. January Angeles of CBPP testified before a New Jersey state senate committee and recaps three points in a blog post today:
  • State and local spending on health care services for the uninsured would fall because many uninsured residents would have Medicaid coverage, largely financed by the federal government.
  • The expansion could strengthen New Jersey’s economic recovery. For every $1 that the state spent on the expansion, it would receive $9 from the federal government. That would equal between $9 billion and $11.1 billion in additional federal dollars coming to the state between 2014 and 2019, according to the Urban Institute.
  • Research shows that people on Medicaid are more likely to get preventive care than people without insurance. Better health care, in turn, leads to better health. “State Medicaid expansions to cover low-income adults were significantly associated with reduced mortality as well as improved coverage, access to care, and self-reported health,” according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Just replace “New Jersey” with “Ohio.”

Medicaid Expansion in 2014 No Brainer for Ohio

About a month ago, IO issued a call to the Kasich Administration to take advantage of the Medicaid expansion authorized for state governments under the Affordable Care Act. Today, the Akron Beacon Journal adds mightily to the argument for our state to participate in an editorial. It reads in part:
When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, it altered one major provision in the law. Instead of a virtual mandate, the court gave state governments flexibility in deciding whether to expand Medicaid coverage to uninsured citizens with annual incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. The encouraging indication is that Gov. John Kasich plans to have a decision for Ohio sometime during the coming year. A commitment to expand Medicaid should not be difficult to make. The federal contribution to an expanded Medicaid program begins Jan. 1, 2014, and it is not insignificant. For the first three years, Washington will pay 100 percent of the cost for the newly eligible. The federal share will be scaled down over the next three years and thereafter to 90 percent. In effect, states that expand from the beginning gain the full benefit of the generous federal match. That is an incentive in itself to get in at the start.
The Beacon Journal goes on to lay out the case based on the overwhelming benefits to Ohio families and our economy. Read it and pass it on to your friends and family. To add to the argument for expansion, let’s also take a look back at what we said on July 30. In short, Medicaid expansion has been shown to save lives:
Innovation Ohio, a progressive think tank headquartered in Columbus, today cited a new study in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine which suggested that expanding Medicaid eligibility as called for in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could prevent 3,400 Ohio deaths per year. The think tank also called on Gov. Kasich to support Medicaid expansion, saying that “being pro-life should include more than just being anti-abortion.” According to the study, published July 25th, Harvard University School of Public Health researchers found that for every 176 adults covered under expanded Medicaid, one death per year would be prevented. The study compared three states (Arizona, New York and Maine) that have already expanded Medicaid coverage for low-income citizens with four neighboring states that had not. Deaths in the three expansion states dropped by 6% per year, while deaths in non-expansion states went up. Read the report here. According to the Kasich administration’s Office of Health Transformation, 597,500 adults would qualify for Medicaid in 2014 if the program is expanded according to ACA guidelines. Using the study’s formula of one death prevented for every 176 adults covered, expanded Medicaid coverage in Ohio would yield 3,395 fewer deaths per year than would occur without it.

Kasich Plays Politics; Ohio Loses Millions

Insurance exchanges are online marketplaces for individuals and small businesses to shop for affordable health insurance plans that best fit their needs. Two years after the Affordable Care Act, Ohio has not yet launched an exchange, and based on statements by Lt. Governor Mary Taylor, it probably never will. The Kasich administration complains that they don’t have the money to set up a state insurance exchange, estimating their cost at $30 to 40 million per year. Yet, for two years, they’ve refused to apply for federal planning grants that could have been used for this very purpose. [Read more…]

Stay informed about key issues and bills.

Sign Up

We monitor Ohio politicians to help you hold them accountable.