Ohio Medicaid to get up to $750 million from federal unemployment bill

The federal bill that would extend unemployment benefits includes a provision that would give Ohio’s Medicaid program an additional $600 million to $750 million in federal funds (Source: “Unemployment bill comes with Medicaid aid,” Business First of Columbus, March 11, 2010).

The bill passed in the Senate Wednesday and now heads back to the House for agreement on amendments.

The bills adds a $25 billion, six-month extension to the increase in federal Medicaid payments that was part of the last year’s stimulus package. According to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data retrieved by Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office, the federal share given to Ohio for Medicaid was increased about $1.2 billion last year, to $9.9 billion, out of the state’s $14 billion program.

The exact amount given to Ohio will be determined by the number of Medicaid enrollees in the state.