Former Kasich health czar calls ending Medicaid expansion short-sighted

Former Gov. John Kasich’s health-care czar warned lawmakers on Thursday that a “kill switch” inserted into the proposed state budget that could end Medicaid expansion covering about 770,000 Ohioans would be harmful to the state (Source: “Ending Medicaid expansion short-sighted, former director warns,” Toledo Blade, March 20).

Ohio would sacrifice far more in federal funds than it spends, could see progress it has made against mental illness and opioid addiction undone, and could see healthcare costs skyrocket again if the program is ended, said Greg Moody, who was executive director of the former Republican governor’s Office of Health Transformation.

“It supports work, keeps rural hospitals open, and provides access to much of the state’s mental health and addiction treatment infrastructure,” he told the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee. “The expansion has a small impact on the state share of the budget but brings in billions of federal dollars.”

Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed two-year general fund budget, now being considered by the House of Representatives, mandates that Ohio end its expansion of Medicaid eligibility should federal support drop even $1 below its current 90 percent match.

Last week HPIO released a new publication titled “The future of Group VIII (expansion) Medicaid coverage in Ohio.” The publication provides data and information on the current status of Medicaid expansion in Ohio and includes a series of policy considerations for state and federal leaders.