Ohioans to pay $1.4B more for Medicaid

June 19, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

An expansion of Medicaid that’s part of the Obama health-care law will boost the program’s cost to Ohio taxpayers by $1.45 billion over five years, according to projections provided to a newspaper by the administration of Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.

Republicans say the state already is struggling to afford Medicaid coverage for the poor and disabled and wonder how it can afford to pay more.

Under President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, states will be required to widen Medicaid eligibility in 2014 so that the program covers people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $29,327 a year for a family of four.

Also, coverage will be extended to childless adults for the first time. Ohio officials have estimated that the expansion will add 554,000 people to the state’s Medicaid rolls.

Figures supplied by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to The Columbus Dispatch on Thursday, and to The Associated Press on Friday, show that during the first five years, the broadening of Medicaid will cost the state annual amounts ranging from $136 million to about $333 million, for a total of $1.45 billion from 2014-19.

The department’s projections also showed that the federal government would pick up $16.9 billion in additional Ohio Medicaid costs over a six-year period beginning in 2013. So, the state is getting a bargain, argued Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst, adding that having more Ohioans insured will lead to overall health-care savings.

But Republicans remain concerned about Medicaid’s potential increased hit to Ohio taxpayers.

“It’s already bringing us underwater today,” said Republican state Rep. Jay Hottinger of Newark. “Whatever the cost is going to be, no matter what the feds are going to pay, it is that much more of a burden on our budget.”

Hottinger and House Republican leaders did not immediately return messages for further comment Friday.

The estimates are “rough” and the state’s price tag could change, based on the economy and other factors, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services spokesman Benjamin Johnson said Friday. For example, lower unemployment could mean fewer people on Medicaid and more Ohioans insured through employers, he said.