04-04-2025
How federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP could affect Ohio
Proposed federal cuts could slash funding to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program relied upon by hundreds of thousands of Central Ohioans.
Why it matters: Cuts could put the programs at risk while potentially costing Ohio tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in tax revenue.
Driving the news: The U.S. House of Representatives' latest budget resolution calls for more than $1 trillion in combined cuts to programs overseen by the House commerce and agriculture committees, which include Medicaid and SNAP, known previously as "food stamps."
Zoom in: Those programs are federally funded and administered locally via the Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services.
Director Michelle Lindeboom says the agency works with 406,000 Franklin County residents on Medicaid and 178,000 on SNAP.
Threat level: Lindeboom tells Axios her staff and the people they serve are feeling "very uneasy" about the funding uncertainty.
"We are talking about the most vulnerable population at a certain poverty level," she says. "We're trying to deal with uncertainty and making people feel safe that they will still have benefits."
Follow the money: Medicaid and SNAP cuts won't just put vulnerable populations at risk — they're projected to be economically detrimental.
New analysis from the Commonwealth Fund and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health sought to estimate the economic consequences of the cuts.
What they found: The report found that cuts could lead to a loss of 43,000 jobs, $4.4 billion in economic output and $323 million in lost tax revenue for Ohio.
What they're saying: "Some have argued that Medicaid or SNAP budgets can be cut harmlessly by eliminating 'waste or fraud,'" researchers write.
"But as we've shown ... drastic reductions in federal funding will necessarily have major financial repercussions, because they shrink the flow of dollars into states' economies."
