Ohio media slow to report budget-busting Obamacare figures

By Jason Hart January 12, 2015

Ohio’s legacy press has been slow to acknowledge enrollment for budget-busting Medicaid expansion yet quick to spin the numbers — when reporting them at all. Gov. John Kasich, who in 2013 expanded Medicaid to able-bodied childless adults to bring Obamacare money to the state, estimated 366,000 would enroll by July 2015. November 2014 enrollment was 450,941, according to the Ohio Department of Medicaid.  Newspapers covered Kasich’s months-long 2013 fight with the Ohio General Assembly as a horse race with the assumption Kasich should win. The press is now talking up Kasich’s efforts to renew the Obamacare expansion — with little regard for his bad estimates.……..“Clearly, there has been limited coverage on the entirety of the Medicaid expansion debate,” Lawson said. “Critical information, including the reality of how Medicaid is funded, enrollment numbers, actual health outcomes, flawed rosy projections and long-term negative fiscal consequences for the state get relatively short shrift.”.........The editorial boards of the Dispatch, NEOMG and Enquirer had all endorsed the Obamacare expansion by February 2013 and have advocated for the policy in both opinion and news coverage…….“Sadly, this is a problem in many other policy areas, as well,” he added. “Emotional arguments and stories trump details and numbers because they are easier for everyone....Read More....