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Ohio House Budget Returns Some Medicaid Control to Lawmakers

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The state budget bill poised for a final vote in the Ohio House would move some control over Medicaid expansion from the governor to lawmakers but wouldn’t freeze the program.

Republican leaders call the procedural changes “guardrails.” They’re among dozens of changes made Monday to the nearly $64 billion, two-year spending blueprint. A full House vote is expected Tuesday.

The final bill doesn’t include a proposal by conservatives to freeze enrollment under the Medicaid expansion allowed under the federal Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare. Instead, the bill adds some new conditions and controls to the release and spending of Ohio’s Medicaid expansion money.

The House rejected most of Republican Gov. John Kasich’s proposed tax changes. About $157 million in new revenue comes largely from changes to the lottery.