Dying for Health Care/A Sad Day in Ohio

Ohio Family Coverage Coalition Statement On Elimination Of Medicaid Coverage For 25,000 Low-Income, Mostly Working Parents Living In Poverty

(Columbus, Ohio – June 20): The Ohio Family Coverage Coalition applauds the General Assembly’s restoration of funds for the Disability Medical Assistance program, but is extremely disappointed at its failure to maintain parent Medicaid coverage at 100% of the poverty level. By cutting eligibility to 90% of poverty (from $16,000 to $14,500 for a family of three), the legislature cuts 25,000 parents off health care over the next two years, most of whom are working or have recently worked. Although the state will save $37 million in state funds over the biennium, the loss in federal funds from this action is $55 million.

“This is a huge disservice to both recipients and to Ohio taxpayers,” said Col Owens, Co-Chair of the Family Coverage Coalition. “Much has been made of the hundreds of millions of dollars in surpluses found in recent weeks. This program could have been funded. These families do not have enough income to afford insurance or health care. Some will encounter medical emergencies and lose their jobs. Others will be forced, by their health, to quit their jobs to return to cash assistance and Medicaid. As people defer care because of being uninsured, conditions worsen and their ultimate treatment becomes much more expensive.”

‘The costs of the uninsured drive up everyone else’s health care costs,” said Cathy Levine, Co-Chair of the Family Coverage Coalition. “A recent study revealed that premiums for employer-provided family health insurance in Ohio will cost, on average, an additional $847 in 2005 to cover cost of providing health care to the uninsured. This is over and above what government will pay and what the uninsured themselves pay out of pocket. Thus, cutting parents off Medicaid does not save Ohioans from paying for their health care costs; it simply shifts the cost onto those who pay for private insurance and cuts Ohio off from $55 million of federal assistance.”

“The truth is,” said Owens, “everybody loses. This program has helped tens of thousands of low-income parents become and remain employed, thereby helping to cut our welfare caseload by two-thirds and keep it flat even through this persistent recession. It has helped parents become stable tax-paying citizens, good-role models for their children, more stable employees for their employers, and paying consumers for their providers. State and federal dollars have moved through local economies, adding income and jobs. This is beneficial to everyone involved.”

“The impact on children of leaving their parents without health care cannot be over-estimated,” added Levine. “For a General Assembly that has said repeatedly it cares about children, this action does not reflect it. Uninsured parents put off care until they get sicker, jeopardizing employment, family financial stability, and their lives. As parents in poverty juggle between paying for medicine and food, the whole family goes hungry; if they lose earnings due to untreated illness, the whole family may become homeless. Thus, cutting parents’ coverage puts children at extreme risk, and the sad fact is, the money was there – this did not have to happen.”

Owens added, “Several heroes and heroines emerged during the budget process – legislators in both parties who understood the importance of parents’ Medicaid coverage to the well-being of those parents, their families, their employers, the health care system, and Ohio taxpayers. We salute and thank those legislators who fought until the end for the well-being of Ohio’s families.”

The Ohio Family Coverage Coalition will continue to advocate for health care for low income Ohioans, both those working at low-wage jobs and those who are unable to work.


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