Ohio Medicaid enrollment expands to include non-poor
An analysis of Ohio's Medicaid program reveals that there are more people receiving Medicaid than there are poor persons in Ohio.
While the federal government pays about 59 percent of Medicaid’s cost, state policymakers have discretion over determining who qualifies to receive benefits. Despite the program's original design to service the poor, Ohio legislators and policymakers have expanded eligibility to include the non-poor.
State exceeds national average
After raising the threshold for Medicaid eligibility to 150 percent of the poverty level in FY 1996, an estimated 133,000 additional non-poor Ohioans became eligible for Medicaid.
Consequently, there are 109 recipients for every 100 poor Ohioans. Nationally, however, there are proportionately fewer Medicaid recipients; for every 100 poor Americans there are 98 Medicaid recipients.
Medicaid expands again
The Governor's task force on health care coverage for children recently proposed expanding Medicaid eligibility to families earning twice the federal poverty level. If Ohio expands coverage to this new eligibility threshold, at least 22 percent of Medicaid recipients would be non-poor. Thus, there will be 122 Medicaid recipients for every 100 poor persons, 24.4 percent more than the national average.
