This Letter to the Editor appeared in The Columbus Dispatch.

Regarding the Thursday Dispatch editorial “Ohio healthier, more prosperous with expanded Medicaid,” it is important to point out that the government’s report did not include a critical piece of information — the methodology explaining how the data was collected.

Without a methodology, we are left with government officials telling us to trust them about the claims in the report. That isn’t how government transparency works, and, as a result, we can only question claims, such as Ohio’s reduction in emergency room visits, which far exceed results other academic researchers have found.

The lack of a methodology makes it impossible to validate the report’s claims and taxpayers and the media are left to wonder if Ohio really is healthier and more prosperous due to Medicaid expansion.

And while there are some “who oppose any expansion of government and any complicity with the Affordable Care Act,” painting all opposed with such a broad brush is unfair and does not encourage serious debate on such an important policy issue.

Rea Hederman Jr. 
The Buckeye Institute
Columbus