Menu

by Keith Stimpert, OFBF vice president, government affairs

Medicaid costs in Ohio, if left unchecked, will eventually consume the entire state budget.

Over the last 20 years, Ohio's Medicaid expenditures have grown 8.7 percent per year, faster than the annual growth rate in the private health sector. That means it will double every 8.5 years. It currently accounts for 36.9 percent of the state’s total General Revenue Fund budget. Looking at the issue more personally, Medicaid costs every man, woman and child in this state $661 or $2,644 per year for a family of four.

The Ohio Farm Bureau does not have much member-developed policy on this subject and currently doesn't plan to be a major participant in the Medicaid debate. Members will be encouraged to explore the issue during our upcoming policy development process.

No doubt those member discussions will be lively as this is a very complex and sensitive subject. Consider, for example:

• The major cost drivers are services delivered to our state's most vulnerable – seniors and the disabled.

• Issues associated with the bigger issue of national health care, such as prescription drug costs, are also part this problem, and

• Some in Washington want to shift even more of the cost burden to the states.

But clearly, there is a need for greater urgency on the part of policymakers and those knowledgeable in health care to get about reform much sooner than later. Unfortunately, in the state’s current budget debate, even modest reforms are difficult. And yet the pressure on individual taxpayer wallets and on funding for other important state budget items, like public education and food safety protection, continues to grow.

There are many approaches to reform. No one argues that we can simply stay ahead of the pace of growth with additional revenues. So something has to be done soon. Some suggest that since 42 percent of Ohio’s Medicaid program is optional under federal guidelines, we should simply cut back on coverages. Others point out that since Ohio’s program is input versus output driven (in other words, physicians get paid more the more they do even if it isn’t necessary for good health care), we should try to control costs and improve management. And still others would offer that the whole program needs to be completely redesigned.

Whatever approach is taken, the goal must be reigning in the out-of-control costs without damaging the care provided for those in need. Talk with your state representatives and senators about this issue and the alternatives. It may not seem like your concern today, but in the very near future it will be.