Buckeye Institute News Alert

Understanding Ohio's tax scheme for expanding Medicaid is taxing to say the least. And now it will cost Ohio -- $1.1 billion. The Buckeye Institute saw this problem three years ago and offered solutions. We still are.

The stories below detail Ohio's forthcoming budget shortfall and include The Buckeye Institute's warnings on the expiring federal loophole to "pay" for Medicaid.

The Columbus Dispatch

Buckeye Institute on sales tax: Told you so As Jim Siegel wrote this week in the Dispatch:   "The Buckeye Institute knew this was very likely to happen," said Greg Lawson, senior policy analyst for the conservative think tank. Ohio is facing a revenue shortage because the federal government is putting an end to the state's application of the sales tax (state and local) to Medicaid managed care organizations. The tax has allowed the state to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars per year in federal matching dollars, while also allowing counties and transit authorities to benefit through their piggyback sales taxes.  Click here for the full story.

Statehouse News Bureau

Think Tank Critical Of Medicaid Expansion Says "Told You So"To Possible Budget Problem - In a story today by the Statehouse News Bureau, Buckeye's Greg Lawson was interviewed by Karen Kasler who noted: Gov. John Kasich's Medicaid expansion included a sales tax on Medicaid managed care organizations, which has brought in a billion dollars in tax revenue and matching federal money. A lot of that goes to county governments and local transit authorities. The feds now say the state can't charge that tax. Greg Lawson with the Buckeye Institute has been critical of the plan since the beginning. "We really do hate to have to be the ones to say, 'I told you so,' because the reality is this was a situation that was imminently foreseeable." Click here to listen to the full interview.

The Buckeye Institute will continue to sound the alarm on irresponsible government measures and identify solutions for strengthening health care and the economy. For The Buckeye Institute's 2015 paper, "Medicaid Expansion Relies on Uncertain Funding," click here.

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Founded in 1989, The Buckeye Institute is an independent research and educational institution--a think tank--whose mission is to advance free-market public policy in the states.