Strickland: Ohio Medicaid faces $207 million shortfall

The Strickland administration released new estimates on Dec. 21 showing the state faces a $207 million Medicaid shortfall by the end of the current budget biennium. (Source: Gongwer Report, Dec. 21, 2007.) The deficit is caused by more Ohioans signing up for Medicaid than originally expected. The $207 million figure is based on state funds only; if the 60%/40% federal-state match is taken into account, the deficit would total around $550 million all funds. A small part of the projected shortfall results from the administration revising downward the amount that can be saved through cost-savings initiatives in the Medicaid program.

In November, Ohio's Medicaid caseload exceeded the administration’s projections by 25,644 individuals, causing Strickland to indefinitely postpone the implementation of adult dental benefits, rate increases for health care providers, and, more recently, to require prior authorization for psychiatric drugs.