Governor wants cut in Medicaid

COLUMBUS (AP) -- Gov. Ted Strickland is asking the Ohio Senate to cut a 50 million increase in Medicaid reimbursements to the state's nursing homes.
Strickland, in a radio interview with the Ohio Farm Bureau broadcast Sunday, said the House should not have put the increase in the 52.1 billion state budget, which unanimously passed the House on May 1 and is now before the Senate.
"Unfortunately, in the House, the nursing home industry went in and asked for an additional 50 million. ... I don't think that's a wise thing," Strickland said. "It's going to be difficult to control the cost -- the exploding cost -- of Medicaid. That's one of the things I'm working on in the Senate."
While the nursing home industry supports Strickland's plans to expand other forms of long-term care, such as less-expensive programs that allow senior citizens to stay in their homes, the industry hasn't had an increase in state reimbursements in four years, said Alan Melamed, spokesman for the Ohio Skilled Nursing Care Coalition, which is made up of three trade and lobbying groups.
"It's important that we keep the entire continuum of care strong," Melamed said Sunday.
Medicaid is a state-federal program that provides health coverage for the poor and disabled.
The two-year state budget must be in place when the new fiscal year begins July 1.
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