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Medicaid Critics Approve Money Request, Favor Cost-Cutting Moves

Office of Budget and Management Director Tim Keen and Ohio Medicaid Director Barbara Sears answer questions from the Ohio Controlling Board in the Ohio Senate Building.
Andy Chow
Office of Budget and Management Director Tim Keen and Ohio Medicaid Director Barbara Sears answer questions from the Ohio Controlling Board in the Ohio Senate Building.

For the first time since lawmakers required it in the budget, Gov. John Kasich’s administration made a trip to the Statehouse to ask a panel of legislators to release hundreds of millions of dollars to fund Medicaid. 

The Controlling Board voted to approve Medicaid’s use of more than $264 million.

Republican Senator Bill Coley was among the yes votes. However he and many Republican lawmakers would still like to end enrollment to Medicaid expansion, which they tried to do in the budget, but Kasich vetoed that.

“But it’s not happening right now so we’ve got to deal with what’s in front of us and I think what’s in front of us right now is an administration who is communicating a commitment to some waivers to the Medicaid program that’ll make true changes and make true improvement.”

Coley says without those waivers to control costs, he would’ve voted down the appropriation request.

The state needed that money in order to get $630 million in matching funds from the feds.

Copyright 2017 The Statehouse News Bureau

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.