Cera responds to state panel's re-approval of Medicaid

State Rep. Jack Cera (D-Bellaire) today responded to the state Controlling Board’s re-approval of Medicaid care in Ohio.

“Putting politics over public policy at the Ohio Statehouse creates uncertainty in the marketplace and puts thousands and thousands of good-paying jobs at risk. In Ohio, more and more people report to work each day at hospitals, health centers and nursing homes, earning over eleven billion dollars that, in turn, are injected into our economy,” said Cera. “This kind of political brinksmanship injects uncertainty into our economy, for healthcare professionals and for the three million Ohioans who access healthcare through Medicaid. Taxpayers want certainty and stability in their everyday lives, not more politics. There’s enough turmoil in Washington, we don’t need to bring it back home to Ohio.”

The state panel’s reconsideration of Medicaid was the result of a partisan budget amendment that now requires the panel to re-approve Medicaid after the its approval in the state budget, setting up high-stakes showdown that could block some three million Ohioans from receiving care, cut thousands of jobs in hospitals, and end all Medicaid funding by 2018.

Rep. Cera serves on the seven-member state Controlling Board, which comprises four Republicans and two Democrats split between both Houses of the General Assembly, as well as the governor’s director of Budget and Management, who serves as the board president.