Don’t Take Healthcare Coverage Away from 770,000 Ohioans

By Will Petrik, Director of Policy & Advocacy, RISE Together Innovation Institute

In Franklin County and across Ohio, families are working hard to make ends meet. With the rising cost of housing, food, childcare, and healthcare, nearly 4 in 10 households are struggling just to get by. The last thing our neighbors need is to worry about losing their healthcare coverage. Yet, that’s exactly what’s at stake in the current public discussion about the future of Ohio.

Lawmakers in the Ohio Senate are considering a dangerous provision in the state budget that could take healthcare coverage away from 770,000 Ohioans, including more than 115,000 adults in Franklin County. The people at risk of being pushed off of Medicaid are adults with income up to 138% of the federal poverty level (for a family of three, that’s an annual income at or below $36,777). Most people at risk of being disenrolled from Medicaid work low-wage jobs that don’t provide healthcare coverage and don’t pay enough for people to afford private insurance.

If this policy remains in the final budget, it will automatically end Medicaid coverage if the federal government reduces its match rate — even slightly. The federal government covers 90% of the cost of the program, which translates to nine dollars of federal money coming into the state for every one dollar of state investment in the program. A mere 0.5% drop in federal reimbursement could trigger an abrupt rollback, pushing hundreds of thousands off their coverage and into crisis.

This would be catastrophic. People need healthcare coverage for lifesaving prescriptions, mental health support, and routine checkups. Without Medicaid, people would be forced to forgo treatment or delay care until a crisis hits. It would push more people into medical debt and increase emergency room visits.

The economic fallout would be equally severe. Ohio could lose $61 billion in federal payments for healthcare in Ohio over the next ten years.[i] Scioto Analysis estimates Franklin County could lose an estimated $926 million in federal funding annually, putting up to 8,500 local jobs at risk, especially in the healthcare and social service sectors. This would further strain the local health and human services sector.

We should be building a future where everyone can access care, stay healthy, and contribute to a thriving economy. Since 2014, the expansion of Medicaid has helped more people access addiction treatment, cancer screenings, mental health care, and preventive services. It’s improved financial stability and created jobs across the state. We can’t afford to go backward.

That’s why RISE Together Innovation Institute recently joined the Ohio Medicaid Matters coalition. We believe healthcare is essential for economic mobility, well-being, and community resilience. We’re asking lawmakers to protect healthcare coverage for as many Ohioans as possible.

We are urging state lawmakers:

Don’t abandon the 770,000 people who need healthcare to work and thrive. Please make a simple but crucial change. Please revise the budget language from “shall” to “may.”

This change would give Ohio the flexibility to maintain Medicaid coverage for as many Ohioans as possible. It would also avoid the unnecessary harm of removing hundreds of thousands of our neighbors from Medicaid coverage.

Lawmakers need to hear from all of us. Will you act now to protect healthcare for over 770,000 Ohioans?

Click here to send an email to Ohio Senate leaders and your State Senator.

Let’s make sure all of us — no matter our income or zip code — have the resources and opportunities we need to thrive.

[i] Estimate from RISE Together Innovation Institute based on estimated fiscal impact from the Legislative Service Commission of Ohio, Expenditures of $6.66 billion and $6.93 billion in FY 2026 and FY 2027 and a federal share of 90%, accessed at https://bit.ly/4iCvirS