COLUMBUS, Ohio (WDTN) – 12,000 Ohio kids are losing their healthcare coverage – the third highest amount in the country.
Some blame Washington D.C. with the attacks on the Affordable Care Act, while others point to problems here in Ohio. And it’s those issues that state officials are focusing on.
“Ever since the economy has improved we’ve seen a decline in the number of people covered on Medicaid,” said Director of the Ohio Department of Medicaid, Maureen Corcoran.
Normally that would be a good thing — it means people are finding work and earning enough to no longer need the assistance, however…
“What we’ve seen though in the last year though is an increase in the number of children who are not covered for health care,” said Corcoran.
This has the governor and many others concerned.
“Making sure every child in the state of Ohio has good medical care is just absolutely essential,” said DeWine.
Governor DeWine has ordered Dir. Corcoran to figure out what the problem is, she says it may be related to parents not re-enrolling children in Medicaid thinking they are ineligible.
“This was identified as an area of problem by the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, they felt Ohio was significantly out of line with where we should have been.”
Over the last year, Corcoran says the department has made a number of dramatic changes.
“We’ve really tried to be very aggressive about getting on top of this,” she said.
Meanwhile lawmakers on the joint Medicaid oversight committee are also waiting for answers.
“I certainly think that will is there to resolve some of these issues, but it’s the how and under what timeframe is the thing that is most important to me as a lawmaker,” said Rep. Allison Russo.
