Chairwoman White, Vice Chair Salvo, Ranking Member Lett and members of the House Children and Human Services committee, thank you for your time today to share our perspective on the as introduced state budget, HB 96. My name is Tara Britton and I’m the Director of Public Policy at The Center for Community Solutions, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank focused on improving health, social and economic conditions for Ohioans. Our priorities in the budget are tied directly to our mission.
The Governor’s budget overall continues to strengthen Ohio families and while there is more to be done, our view is that this is a solid starting point to move through the budget process. While the budget is positive in many ways, there is one particularly worrisome provision included in the state budget related to Medicaid expansion. Under the as-introduced budget language, if the federal government lowers its matching funds for the expansion eligibility category, it would “trigger” the immediate end of Group VIII coverage in Ohio. This would effectively cancel health coverage forover 770,000 Ohioans who have insurance through Medicaid expansion. While we recognize that this policy is outside the jurisdiction of this committee, so much of what is addressed here will be undermined by pulling the rug out from under 770,000 people covered by Medicaid.
