Universal Health Care Action Network Helps Gov. Kasich Pressure Ohio House

By: Jason Hart (Diary)  |  March 25th at 02:30 PM  | 

The contents of a March 15 Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio (UHCAN Ohio) web training for progressive activists interested in lobbying for Medicaid expansion bore a striking resemblance to talking points from Governor John Kasich and his administration. Kasich, a Republican, has decided to pursue billions in new federal funding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) promises to states that expand | Read More »

Can States Expand Medicaid Temporarily?

By: Jason Hart (Diary)  |  March 20th at 12:00 PM  | 

Governor John Kasich has insisted Ohio can adopt the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) Medicaid expansion temporarily and back out in the future by including a “circuit breaker” provision that would revoke new Medicaid eligibility if Washington changes the rules. Ohio’s newspapers, which enthusiastically support Medicaid expansion, have reported Kasich’s claims without skepticism. With the federal government more than $16.7 trillion in debt but promising | Read More »

Medicaid Expansion Poll Confirms Primary Risk for Ohio Republicans

By: Jason Hart (Diary)  |  March 18th at 01:00 PM  | 

A Hill Research Consultants poll conducted March 3-4 found that 65 percent of Republican primary voters oppose Governor John Kasich’s decision to expand Medicaid as called for in President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Commissioned by Opportunity Ohio and The Liberty Foundation, the poll surveyed 803 active Ohio voters by telephone, with a 4 percent margin of error. Overall, respondents were evenly | Read More »

Medicare Trustee Cautions States on Obamacare Medicaid Expansion

By: Jason Hart (Diary)  |  March 5th at 02:00 PM  | 

Medicare Board of Trustees member Charles Blahous released a Mercatus Center report on March 5 recommending states take advantage of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2012 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) ruling by mostly rejecting the law’s Medicaid expansion. Blahous concluded that states “all appear to face one common, powerful incentive arising from the court’s ruling: to decline to cover childless adults at | Read More »

John Kasich, Compassionate Conservative?

By: Jason Hart (Diary)  |  March 4th at 06:00 PM  | 

Ohio Governor John Kasich has conflated government spending with personal charity in his arguments for Medicaid expansion, adopting one of the central pillars of progressive philosophy. Kasich’s portrayal of deeper debt and bigger government as the Christian path strongly resembles President George W. Bush’s talk of “compassionate conservatism,” which assented to progressive arguments that conservatism by itself is heartless. “Well, I think it makes sense | Read More »

Kasich Appointee Scolds Opponents of Ohio Medicaid Expansion

By: Jason Hart (Diary)  |  March 1st at 01:30 PM  | 

Ohio Right to Life president Michael Gonidakis belittled the Ohio Liberty Coalition (OLC) and every other conservative group in the state in a February 27 Columbus Dispatch editorial promoting Governor John Kasich’s decision to expand Medicaid. Gonidakis, who Kasich appointed to the State Medical Board of Ohio just four months ago, parroted the Republican governor’s progressive talking points for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) Medicaid expansion. “Memo | Read More »

Kasich Repeats Medicaid Expansion Lies in Ohio State of the State Address

By: Jason Hart (Diary)  |  February 21st at 02:00 PM  | 

Governor John Kasich forcefully repeated multiple falsehoods about expanding Medicaid eligibility in Ohio during his 2013 State of the State address on February 19. As he and his administration have done for weeks, Kasich falsely insisted that Ohio’s promised federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) funding for expanding Medicaid will be sent to other states if Ohio rejects the expansion. The Ohio Channel | Read More »

Kasich Administration Presents a False Choice on Medicaid Expansion

By: Jason Hart (Diary)  |  February 18th at 03:00 PM  | 

Governor John Kasich has falsely insisted that if Ohio does not expand Medicaid eligibility, federal Medicaid expansion funds for Ohio will be sent to other states. With some Ohio legislators hesitant to worsen America’s $16.5 trillion national debt, the Kasich administration has inaccurately claimed that rejecting Medicaid expansion would not prevent federal spending. Contrary to February 14 Ohio House of Representatives testimony from the Republican | Read More »

Gov. Kasich Enlists Socialized Medicine Lobbyists to Help Implement Obamacare

By: Jason Hart (Diary)  |  February 11th at 02:58 PM  | 

Governor John Kasich worked with the far-left Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio (UHCAN Ohio) to build his case for Medicaid expansion, a central piece of President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Washington Post blogger Sarah Kliff detailed Kasich’s strategy in a February 6 Wonkblog entry. “Rather than having to convince the governor, Obamacare supporters were asked to focus their efforts on convincing | Read More »

Gov. Kasich’s Medicaid Arguments Mirror Strickland’s Pleas for Passenger Rail Spending

By: Jason Hart (Diary)  |  February 7th at 02:00 PM  | 

Ohio Governor John Kasich Governor John Kasich has defended his decision to expand Medicaid eligibility in Ohio with logic he rejected when killing a “high-speed rail” project barely two years ago. Governor Ted Strickland, a Democrat, emphasized the need to goose Ohio’s economy using our “fair share” of federal funds – an argument Kasich, a Republican, is now employing to justify Medicaid expansion. The 2010 | Read More »