Ohio Governor Suggests Medicaid Cuts

Posted by Marc Kilmer in Health Care, Medicaid, Ohio on Jun 17th, 2009 | no responses

Ohio is facing a $2 billion deficit (even after trying to paper over its spending problems with billions in federal "stimulus" money). So it seems that Governor Ted Strickland, who came to office promising to expand Medicaid, is now looking to cut it:

Sources say the areas where Strickland has suggested cutting include: dental, vision and other Medicaid services for low-income adults; the Passport program that enables the elderly to receive care at their home instead of in a nursing home; and services to protect children and adults from abuse.

The administration also proposed eliminating preschool for low-income children, a planned expansion of tax-funded health coverage to uninsured children, and planned increases in payments to nursing homes caring for disabled.

I'm not sure the Passport cuts are all that cost-effective, since it will mean fewer people will receive less expensive in-home care and instead receive services at a more expensive institution, but in general the governor's on the right track.

Of course, if he'd listened to me two years ago, maybe the state wouldn't have quite as large a fiscal mess:

Expanding Medicaid can lead to large increases in Medicaid spending when states can least afford it — during recessions. Ohio saw this earlier this decade when Medicaid spending increased dramatically during the recent recession. Spending grew at 11 percent annually during 2001 and 2004, squeezing other budget priorities at a time when the state was seeing reduced revenue. Expanding Medicaid now will only repeat this cycle during the next recession.