Keep Medicaid expansion plan in Ohio: editorial
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- Category: News
- Created on Friday, 12 April 2013 02:48
- Written by Super User
By on April 09, 2013 at 7:15 PM, updated April 09, 2013 at 7:24 PM
Ohio House Republicans are acting with gross irresponsibility in rejecting Republican Gov. John Kasich's bid to expand Medicaid coverage for poor Ohioans. Even more perplexing is the lack of vocal opposition from some Cleveland-area GOP lawmakers for a decision that -- if it stands -- will gravely damage Greater Cleveland.
Anti-expansion Republicans portray their position as a matter of principle. But their stance is the poisoned fruit of childish partisanship and craven self-interest: They fear primary-election challenges from other Republicans who think that expanding Medicaid in Ohio represents a form of collusion with President Barack Obama, whom they loathe.
For that seamy reason, the Ohio House's GOP caucus, led by Medina's William Batchelder, would deny adequate medical care to hundreds of thousands of Ohioans (many in Greater Cleveland) and reject billions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury. It's mindless and it's pathetic.
Rejecting Medicaid expansion will damage Ohio from Lake Erie to the Ohio River. It will further imperil community hospitals already squeezed by the cost of caring for uninsured patients. It will especially damage Greater Cleveland, which has some of Ohio's greatest concentrations of poverty -- and a nexus of high-tech biomedical companies, including world-renowned hospitals that help shoulder the costs of caring for the uninsured, a burden Medicaid expansion would lighten.
Medicaid expansion also is a smart economic strategy that will underwrite jobs, keep Ohioans' tax dollars in Ohio, improve the health and productivity of our citizens and reduce state outlays for prison health care.
Among those who would benefit are working Ohioans without health insurance who live at or below 138 percent of the poverty level. These men and women, who play by the rules, are the very Ohioans Republicans claim to respect.
What Ohio House Republicans have really decided is that unpaid emergency room charges -- and all other such unpaid medical costs -- will be paid not with help from taxpayers in all 50 states but instead by jacking up the health-insurance premiums or employer-sponsored health plan costs of Ohioans who do have coverage. If that's fair to Ohio employers, the word "fair" has no meaning at the Statehouse.
The House Finance-Appropriations Committee now will affirm or reject House Republicans' refusal of Medicaid expansion. Among the committee's members are Reps. Marlene Anielski of Independence and Mike Dovilla of Berea, both Republicans. Also with a key voice within the House GOP caucus, although she's not on the committee, is Westlake's Nan Baker.
Baker, Anielski and Dovilla have a clear choice. They can stand with the blind partisanship of some of their GOP colleagues. Or they can stand with Greater Clevelanders by fighting for Medicaid expansion.