Many unaware of threats to Ohio Medicaid, advocates say
As threats build to Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor, even many Ohioans who stand to be affected don't know it, advocates said Saturday.
Dozens gathered on the west lawn of the Ohio Statehouse to raise awareness that a massive spending bill passed by Republicans in Congress could end up ending health care for more than 750,000 Ohioans.
'People say, 'Oh, I'm not on Medicaid,'' said Bria Bennett of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. 'But when they hear Caresource (Ohio's biggest Medicaid managed-care provider), they say 'Oh yeah, my kids are on Caresource.' That's a problem everywhere. People are so focused on 'How am I getting to work? Is my car going to get me to work? Is my uniform clean for work?' They're worried about all those things that trying to dip into the policy things that our politicians talk about is difficult.'
The U.S. House-passed Republican reconciliation budget — President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' — would hand out $4.6 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years. The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School estimated that 70% of the benefit would go to the richest 10% of Americans.
Republicans, such as Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, have denied that the budget would cut health benefits for Americans. But then she undermined her own argument by saying 'We all are going to die.'
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Parts of the bill, including a strict new work requirement, led the independent, nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to conclude that it would cost about 10 million Americans their health insurance. That's nearly half of the 24.6 million Americans who are covered under the Medicaid expansion that was passed as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Most Medicaid recipients have jobs, and a 2018 assessment in Ohio said that health coverage made it easier for those people to seek and keep employment.
Meanwhile, work requirements have been shown to be ineffective for anything other than hassling people off of the system. Researchers at Harvard University and the Urban Institute found that Arkansas's work requirement did nothing to boost employment in the state.
The federal government covers 90% of the cost of the Medicaid expansion. In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine proposed that if a significant portion of that funding were eliminated, the state would cut those people off — ending health coverage for 770,000 Ohioans.
That's nearly 7% of the state.
It might come as a surprise for many, but 26% of Ohioans are on Medicaid, and low-income residents are so numerous that 30% of households make 200% or less of the federal poverty level.
Bennett of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative said it's jargon like that that obscures the dire reality in which millions of Ohioans live.
'I don't know what 200% of whatever is,' she said. 'That's just a number to me. We're trying to make things relatable because people don't necessarily know that it affects them.'
For the record, for a family of four 200% of the federal poverty level is $62,400 a year.
Bennett said such households would be devastated if they lost Medicaid benefits.
'I know folks who have four-plus kids. Because of what they make, all of their kids are on Medicaid,' she said. 'If that's taken away, there are no more doctor's appointments. There's no more dentist's appointments.'
And, she said, those life-saving services shouldn't be axed to pad the pockets of the wealthy in an era of exploding income inequality.
'We should not be giving tax breaks to the wealthy when the poorest and most vulnerable of us cannot even afford health care,' Bennett said.
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Chicago Tribune
24 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
New lawsuit challenges President Donald Trump's federal takeover of DC police department as crackdown intensifies
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He wrote in a memo to Smith that 'members of MPD must continue to follow your orders and not the orders of any official not appointed by the Mayor,' setting up the legal clash between the heavily Democratic district and the Republican administration. Bondi's directive came even after Smith had told MPD officers hours earlier to share information with immigration agencies regarding people not in custody, such as someone involved in a traffic stop or checkpoint. The Justice Department said Bondi disagreed with the police chief's directive because it allowed for continued enforcement of 'sanctuary policies,' which generally limit cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers. Bondi said she was rescinding that order as well as other MPD policies limiting inquires into immigration status and preventing arrests based solely on federal immigration warrants. All new directives must now receive approval from Cole, the attorney general said. 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Axios
24 minutes ago
- Axios
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The Hill
24 minutes ago
- The Hill
California redistricting puts pressure on Illinois, New York
California's move to launch a redistricting effort ahead of next year's midterms has piled new pressure on other blue states to follow suit. Capitol Hill Democrats are hailing Thursday's announcement by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) to redraw the House map in the Golden State, saying the changes are essential to counteract a similar gambit by Texas Republicans, which is expected to lend the GOP as many as five additional seats in the next Congress. But the Democrats don't want to stop there, pressing party leaders in Illinois, New York and even Maryland to take a page from Newsom's playbook to help the party flip control of the House — and establish a check on President Trump — following next year's elections. Newsom, himself, has taken the lead, publicly exhorting the leaders of Illinois and New York to 'forget the talking' and start making moves. But behind the scenes, a similar pressure campaign is playing out. 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Dick Durbin's (D-Ill.) seat next year and whose district includes a mix of urban, suburban and rural, also left the door open to having Illinois redraw its maps if it needed to. 'We're all in it together, so we have to do what we have to do. But I think do first what makes most sense or might be easier,' Kelly told The Hill, referring to states that might be easier to redistrict. 'There's a lot of blocks or pieces of the puzzle, and it depends how the pieces of the puzzle fall. If, you know, we look at it and it's very important that we do it, then I would not be opposed to us doing it,' she said. The Democrats' endorsement of mid-decade redistricting marks a sharp shift in the party's strategy. For years, Democratic leaders have opposed state moves to redraw their maps mid-decade, pushing instead for independent commissions to assume the task — and discourage partisan gerrymandering — following each decennial census count. But with Texas Republicans poised to redraw their map in the coming weeks — a rare, mid-decade reworking designed, at the request of Trump, to pick up GOP seats — Democrats say the moment demands fighting fire with fire. 'Under the circumstances, you get in a fight, you've got to make sure you've got the same type of weapons, or better weapons, than the other side does,' said the lawmaker on the Holder call. 'So you can't just unilaterally give up.' The push to redraw House maps is not clear cut, though, since each state determines how they draw their congressional lines. In New York, a redistricting commission starts the process of drawing the House lines, subject to the legislature's approval. If the legislature approves the lines crafted by the commission, they head to the governor's office for signature. New York won't be able to pass a new House map in time for 2026 given that allowing the state to pursue mid-decade redistricting will require an amendment to the state Constitution. The legislature needs to pass that amendment in two consecutive sessions before it goes to the voters for a vote. That timeline means the earliest New York could draw maps would be for the 2028 cycle. The process is easier in Illinois and Maryland, where the legislature takes up the task of drawing lines. Once they're passed by state lawmakers, they require the governor's signature for approval. But unlike New York, Democrats have fewer opportunities to pick up seats in Illinois and Maryland, which already have predominantly Democratic congressional delegations. Stretching out gains in Democratic states also runs the risk of making Democrats' seats more competitive, too. House Republicans, meanwhile, have slammed Newsom's effort, arguing he's doing so because of his rumored 2028 aspirations. 'Gavin Newsom's latest stunt has nothing to do with Californians and everything to do with consolidating radical Democrat power, silencing California voters, and propping up his pathetic 2028 presidential pipe dream,' Christian Martinez, a spokesman for the House Republicans' campaign arm, said in a statement. 'Newsom's made it clear: He'll shred California's Constitution and trample over democracy — running a cynical, self-serving playbook where Californians are an afterthought and power is the only priority.' Democrats have dismissed such criticisms, saying the real power grab occurred when Trump asked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to redraw the maps to find five additional GOP seats. The midterm cycle is historically tough on the party of the sitting president, and Trump is hoping to prevent Democrats from taking control of the House, which would empower them to launch countless investigations into the actions of his administration. In the past, Democrats have expressed concerns that adopting mid-decade redistricting would set a terrible precedent and make the Congress even more polarized than it already is. But those reservations have been eclipsed by what the party sees as an existential threat to the country if Trump is allowed to move through the remainder of his term unchecked. Party leaders appear to be on board. 'People are very upset, and pretty much anybody is on the same [page],' the Democratic lawmaker said. 'They're saying, 'In the past we've taken a different position, but we can't come in empty handed while they're coming in with guns to the fight. 'Democrats, and certainly our leaders, are saying that, 'We've taken a different position on redistricting [in the past], but this time we cannot do it.''
