State spends $111 million on Medicaid for Ohioans with jobs, report claims

According to a new study from Policy Matters Ohio, the state spent $111.5 million last year to provide Medicaid benefits to more than 111,000 workers and their families at 50 companies in the state (Source: “Public pays health care for private workers,” Akron Beacon-Journal, Sept. 1, 2008).

The report used Medicaid enrollment data from the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services to estimate the 50 employers statewide with the largest number of employees receiving Medicaid benefits. The federal government’s share for Medicaid provided to Ohio workers was $182 million, according to the report.

The report found that Wal-Mart had the most employees in the state who were on Medicaid, with a monthly average of 13,141. In response to the study, a Wal-Mart spokesman said the data used in the study is “notoriously unreliable.”