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Kasich Hopeful Lawmakers will OK Medicaid Expansion Funding

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Gov. John Kasich says he’s hopeful state lawmakers will approve money that supports his expansion of Medicaid.
The governor’s $72.3 billion, two-year spending blueprint sets aside funds to cover the more than 500,000 low-income Ohioans who enrolled in the federal-state health program after Kasich extended Medicaid eligibility under President Barack Obama’s health overhaul.
The GOP-dominated Legislature balked when Kasich sought approval to fund it in his last budget. So the state’s Controlling Board appropriated the money – not the full Legislature.
Kasich told reporters on Thursday that he did not anticipate going to the Controlling Board this time around.
Obama’s law calls for Washington to pay the full cost of the Medicaid extension through 2016 and 95 percent in 2017, so Ohio will have to kick in some money.