ACTION ALERT: Ohio Senate to vote on veto overrides that could weaken Ohio’s Medicaid program

Next week on Tuesday, the Ohio Senate will come back to vote to override Governor Kasich’s budget vetoes. While the Senate cannot take up the Medicaid expansion enrollment freeze (since the House did not vote on this specific veto), they are expected to vote on a number of vetoes the House voted to override that would weaken the state’s Medicaid program.

One of those harmful provisions that the Senate could have the votes to pass would impose a monthly premium on non-disabled adults in the Medicaid program through the ‘Healthy Ohio’ program, which was previously rejected by the Obama Administration. Under this plan, any missed payments within 60 days would result in blocked coverage until the individual paid all prior premiums and incurred debt on those payments.

If the veto override vote passes in the Senate, it would be devastating to those living in poverty that depend upon Medicaid for health care coverage. Even the modest premium required by this plan would be a barrier to coverage for the poorest Ohioans that are covered by the Medicaid program. In fact, the Kasich administration estimated that more than 125,000 people a year would lose their coverage as a result of the premiums.