Ohio House drops Medicaid expansion from budget

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A sweeping state budget that would give Ohio residents an income tax cut while scrapping an expansion of Medicaid passed the Republican-controlled House on Thursday after lawmakers agreed to continue discussing health coverage for the poor.

The $61.5 billion, two-year budget rewrites Republican Gov. John Kasich’s proposals for overhauling the state tax code and drops his plans to extend Medicaid health coverage to thousands more low-income residents.

The House voted 61-35 on the spending blueprint, which would begin July 1. The plan, with the support of three Democratic lawmakers, now goes to the GOP-dominated Senate, where more changes and hearings are expected.

Before the final vote, representatives dumped a contentious provision approved by a House committee that would have barred instructors from distributing contraceptives or promoting what the provision referred to as “sexual gateway activities” in health education classes.

Other debate was focused on whether the state should move forward with expanding the federal-state Medicaid program under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

Roughly 366,000 low-income Ohio residents would be eligible for coverage beginning in 2014 by expanding Medicaid, the health program for the poor that already provides care for one of every five residents in the state. The Kasich administration expects the state to see $13 billion from the federal government over the next seven years to cover those newly eligible for Medicaid.

Instead, representatives Thursday evening unanimously approved an amendment to give lawmakers time to study the issue and allow the state to pursue other options.

The Kasich administration has been negotiating with federal officials for months over the details of possibly providing private health coverage to some people who would be eligible for Medicaid under the expansion.

The amendment directs administration officials to assist lawmakers in developing Medicaid reforms and to submit a Medicaid plan to the Legislature by this fall. It says state lawmakers would have to sign off on any Medicaid proposal that has federal approval before it gets implemented.

The change had the reluctant support of Democrats, who earlier Thursday had tried unsuccessfully to restore Kasich’s proposal into the budget.

Democrats argued pursuing expansion was the best way to create new jobs, save state taxpayer dollars and keep Ohio residents healthy.