It was all but inevitable that healthcare would suffer cuts in the face of Ohio’s crushing $8 billion budget deficit, and state Republicans look likely to put Medicaid eligibility on the chopping block.
A supposedly bipartisan committee of Ohio lawmakers was tasked with coming up with ways to relieve the state’s looming budget deficit, yet the committee issued two reports: one from Republicans and one from Democrats.
Since the GOP will take control of the governorship and both the Senate and House next year, it’s highly likely that the Republican budget-cutting plan will receive much more serious consideration. And reducing eligibility for Medicaid is a big part of that plan, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
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Medicaid, the federal- and state-funded health insurance program for low-income people, represents the state’s largest and fastest-growing expenditure, so it seems like a rather obvious place to begin cutting — but that won’t make it any easier for the 2.1 million Ohioans (20 percent of the state’s residents) who depend on the program for their health needs. Ohio taxpayers spent nearly $15 billion on Medicaid, out of total state spending of $52 billion, in fiscal 2010.
It’s important to note that the Republican budget-cutting plan does not advocate for Ohio opting out of Medicare. Doing so would cost the state federal matching funds and would take an obvious toll on patients and medical providers who depend on the program, the GOP plan said.
But it’s virtually certain that the state’s next two-year budget will take the axe to Medicaid. The only questions are how deep the cuts will go and how many Ohioans will be dropped from the program.
Medicaid qualification is determined by comparing a family’s income to the federal poverty level — about $22,000 for a family of four, for example. In Ohio, parents earning up to 90 percent of the poverty level qualify while most childless adults are ineligible.
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Governor-elect John Kasich is expected to submit a budget proposal in March. The next budget would take effect on July 1, 2011. In addition to healthcare, education spending is expected to take a beating in the new budget.
