Gov. John Kasich used his veto pen late Friday night to gut his fellow Republicans’ major Medicaid policy changes in the state budget bill, but the budget battle might roll into the following week.
Legislative leaders told lawmakers last week they could be called back to the Statehouse to override any of the governor’s vetoes. But there’s some question as to whether they have the votes to do so, especially on the Medicaid expansion freeze.
Kasich struck 47 items from the 3,384-page bill, including three modifications to Ohio’s eligibility expansion for Medicaid, the joint state-federal health insurance program for poor and disabled people. All three required federal approval.
The Affordable Care Act allowed states to expand eligibility to childless adults earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level to obtain health insurance, with the feds footing 100 percent of the bill at first, tapering to 90 percent in 2020.
Kasich accepted the expansion deal in 2013 despite opposition from fellow Republicans. State officials estimated 360,000 uninsured Ohioans would become eligible for the program. Since then, more than 725,000 Ohioans have received coverage through the expansion.
Republican lawmakers wanted to:
- Impose work requirements on expansion enrollees, with exceptions for people over age 55 or receiving treatment for addiction or mental illness.
- End enrollment for new and lapsed enrollees beginning July 1, 2018, with addiction and mental illness exceptions.
- Require all non-disabled adults in Medicaid to pay monthly premiums and other fees through the “Healthy Ohio” proposal, which the Obama administration rejected last year.
Republicans said the Medicaid restrictions would reduce costs for the program and direct state money to more vulnerable Ohioans.
Kasich has defended the expansion, a hallmark of his time in office, in Ohio and Washington, D.C. and credits it for more than half of the state’s annual spending fighting the opiate addiction and overdose crisis.
Kasich said the expansion has brought $270 million to Ohio for drug addiction and behavioral health services.
How would an override work?
Bills are sent to their originating chamber for an initial veto vote. For the budget bill, that means the House would vote first. If it fails there, it won’t go to the second chamber.
The House has already scheduled a session for Thursday morning.
Veto overrides need the approval of three-fifths of each chamber — 60 in the 99-member House and 20 in the 33-member Senate.
On the freeze — Democrats won’t vote to keep it. Seven House Republicans voted against the budget. One of them, Rep. Nino Vitale of Urbana, actually opposed the House version because it didn’t freeze Medicaid expansion.
But some moderate Republicans share the governor’s concerns. Dayton-area Sen. Peggy Lehner told the Dayton Daily News she would vote against overriding the veto.
Legislators might have better luck on the fix for counties and regional transit authorities because many Democrats also sought a replacement for the lost revenue.
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