News
Ohio General Assembly Expected to Leave Medicaid Expansion Intact
The Ohio House will not attempt to override an 18-month-old veto by Gov. John Kasich that cut short an attempt to freeze enrollment in the Ohio Medicaid expansion, a GOP spokesman said.
Brad Miller, a spokesman for House Speaker Ryan Smith -- who controls the measures that come up for a vote -- said Thursday morning the chamber will not vote to override Kasich’s June 29, 2017 line-item veto of the provision in the two-year budget freezing enrollment. The chamber meets Thursday and possibly Friday. Miller said no veto override vote of that measure will happen either day. For a veto override to be successful, three-fifths of the members in the House and Senate must vote to override a provision. “I don’t think there is widespread support in the caucus to get a three-fifths vote.” Ohio Medicaid is a program for the medically and financially needy. About 3 million Ohioans are in it. Although Republicans have spent years decrying the Affordable Care Act -- of which Medicaid expansion is a key part -- polls have shown the public supports the low-income health care program. More