700,000 Ohioans are covered under Medicaid expansion, and Gov. John Kasich continues to push for the federal government to continue Medicaid expansion in any future health care reform. But he’s also argued that states should have flexibility. That could mean thousands of very poor people might lose Medicaid coverage.
Medicaid expansion was aimed at people making up to 138% of poverty - $28,000 for a family of three. But if Medicaid expansion hadn’t happened, former state Medicaid director John Corlett says half a million Ohioans under the poverty level wouldn’t have coverage because they didn’t qualify for Medicaid. “We’re talking people with literally no income who were not eligible before, unless they were disabled, or unless they had children, and then there was some limited eligibility for low-income parents.”
Corlett says many are drug addicted, have mental illnesses or suffer with chronic diseases. The Kasich administration has been looking at scaling Medicaid expansion back, covering only those at or under the poverty level. That means 150,000 Ohioans might lose Medicaid coverage.
