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Ohio Gets Go-Ahead For Work Requirements For Medicaid Expansion

Now-Gov. Mike DeWine (center) speaks at an July 2018 event where he announced he'd keep Medicaid expansion, with work requirements.
Karen Kasler
Now-Gov. Mike DeWine (center) speaks at an July 2018 event where he announced he'd keep Medicaid expansion, with work requirements.

The federal government says Ohio can join the eight other states that have been given permission to impose work requirements on people in Medicaid expansion.

When it’s implemented, recipients who aren’t over 50, disabled or caregivers will have to prove they’re working 20 hours a week, or are in job training or college, or doing community service.

Medicaid expansion advocates including Tara Britton at the Center for Community Solutions have doubted the likelihood of real cost savings.

“We want to make sure that there’s not a detrimental impact to county governments and other community partners because there are going to be implementation costs associated with this," Britton said.

The state says 58 percent of those on Medicaid expansion are working. And it’s estimated that 95 percent of those in the program are working or exempt.

But the state estimates 36,000 recipients aren’t, and that about 18,000 will eventually lose their Medicaid coverage.

Copyright 2019 The Statehouse News Bureau

Contact Karen at 614/578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.