Ohio proposes premiums for some Medicaid enrollees

State officials plan to ask federal regulators later this year to allow premiums to be charged to nondisabled, working-age adults on Medicaid who have incomes of less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $16,200 a year. (Source: “Should some Ohio Medicaid recipients have to pay premiums?,” Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 18, 2016).

Under the proposal, premiums — the lesser of 2 percent of household income or $99 annually ($8.25 a month) — would be paid into a modified health savings account. If premiums are 60 days late, Medicaid coverage is suspended until the money is paid; pregnant women are exempted.

The plan is subject to approval by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as premiums are not allowed under current law. Federal officials have approved premiums in states such as Indiana, Oregon and Wisconsin, but none has guidelines as strict as what Ohio proposes.