Ohio Gov. John Kasich's administration has begun efforts to churn up support for his upcoming budget proposal that is expected to include an expanded Medicaid program that would add 400,000 Ohioans to its rolls, according to a report by The Columbus Dispatch.
Kasich would become the fifth Republican governor to come out in favor of the expansion, joining Arizona, North Dakota, New Mexico and Nevada's governors, and contrasting them sharply with most other GOP state leaders who claim the program will be expensive for states to administer or is a bait-and-switch maneuver to build support for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Kasich has said the expansion would help many of the poorest Ohioans and be covered by the federal government for the first three years, according to the report. He also said there would be a failsafe that would protect taxpayers if the government didn't make good on its deal to foot the bill.
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Kasich would become the fifth Republican governor to come out in favor of the expansion, joining Arizona, North Dakota, New Mexico and Nevada's governors, and contrasting them sharply with most other GOP state leaders who claim the program will be expensive for states to administer or is a bait-and-switch maneuver to build support for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Kasich has said the expansion would help many of the poorest Ohioans and be covered by the federal government for the first three years, according to the report. He also said there would be a failsafe that would protect taxpayers if the government didn't make good on its deal to foot the bill.
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