Taylor rejects Kasich’s health-care position
Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor came out Monday against Ohio’s Medicaid expansion, even as a spokesman for her boss and prime political supporter, Gov. John Kasich, said the benefits of the expansion make it a “no-brainer.”
When she was state insurance director, Taylor periodically suggested that the expansion was financially unsustainable. Now, as a Republican candidate for governor, Taylor has formally pulled the trigger: She said she would freeze enrollment in the expansion of health-care coverage to more than 700,000 low-income Ohioans, leading to the program’s eventual demise.
Taylor’s opposition puts her at odds with Kasich, who has made preserving health care for the poor his signature issue on the national stage.
Jon Keeling, Kasich’s press secretary, said, “Helping more people get healthy, get clean and get jobs is really a no-brainer for Ohioans in need, employers and taxpayers — and the overwhelming majority of health-care business leaders continue to appreciate that.”
Keeling would not say whether Taylor’s move affects the level of the governor’s support for her candidacy.
In remarks Monday afternoon in Cleveland, Taylor outlined the health-care policies she will pursue if she wins the Republican nomination next year and is elected governor.
“As governor, I will end Medicaid expansion,” the long-time critic of the Affordable Care Act said. “I want to return Medicaid to its original mission of serving the people who need it while reincentivizing work and ensuring opportunities for long-term success for those who are able.”
A summary of Taylor’s position said a health-care safety net is important for the impoverished and disabled, but coverage has “expanded much farther to include ablebodied adults.” While the federal government now pays 95 percent of the cost of the expansion, the percentage will dwindle in future years. The cost will crowd out other state spending priorities, the lieutenant governor said.
Taylor said the Affordable Care Act must be repealed and replaced since it has been “disastrous” for Ohio, with mandated policies purchased on Ohio’s insurance marketplace continuing to rise in cost, including an average 34 percent premium hike in the coming year. The state insurance department has said about a third of that jump, however, stems from President Donald Trump’s quest to eliminate cost-sharing subsidies to insurers.
Taylor said that as governor she would pursue “a consumer-driven, marketbased approach ... and giving small business better options.”
She proposes sidestepping insurance for primary and preventative care, with consumers directly paying their doctor or physicians group a monthly fee for the basics. Insurance would be preserved for hospitalizations, emergency care and long-term needs.
Taylor would ask Congress to allow small employers to contribute what they can toward employee health insurance costs without having to purchase a group plan.
She also would permit people with multiple jobs to create health-care accounts to which each employer could contribute to help provide coverage for part-time employees.
Employer-funded health insurance is the best method for providing health-care coverage, but efforts should continue to improve care and reduce costs, Taylor said.
One of her opponents for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci of Wadsworth, also supports an end to Obamacare and a freeze on enrollment in the Medicaid expansion.
The campaigns of Secretary of State Jon Husted and Attorney General Mike DeWine both oppose Obamacare and agree that the cost of the Medicaid expansion cannot be borne by Ohio going forward. Their campaigns did not respond to follow-up questions on whether the candidates would repeal the Medicaid expansion outright or merely impose a freeze on enrollment.
In a statement, Renacci criticized “the remarkable cowardice and dishonesty that career politicians Jon Husted and Mike DeWine have demonstrated on one of the most critical issues facing our state.”
Ohio Democratic Chairman David Pepper called Taylor’s plan “misguided and cruel.”
“Throwing hundreds of thousands of Ohioans off their health care would be like throwing gasoline on the raging fire that is our state’s opioid epidemic,” he said. “Mary Taylor is clearly trying to pander to Donald Trump — but her policies would have a disastrous impact on everyday Ohioans.”