Ohio mulling ACA Medicaid expansion

While no decision appears imminent, Ohio officials are busy considering how the state would fare if it elects to expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (Source: "State officials evaluate expansion of Medicaid," Columbus Dispatch, Sept. 13, 2012).

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Medicaid expansion provision in the ACA is optional for states. For the first several years of expansion, the federal government would pick up the entire cost of newly eligible enrollees. That federal rate would drop gradually to about 90 percent over the next decade, with states responsible for the balance of the cost.

“We want to make sure we can sustain the automatic expansion,” said Greg Moody, director of Governor's Office of Health Transformation, said this week at a Columbus Metropolitan Club forum. “We’re not going to rush into a final decision. ... We need to see the big picture for Ohio.”