Portman, Brown want to keep Medicaid expansion

SANDUSKY — Ohio's two U.S. senators both say they favor continuing to fund the expansion in Ohio and other states of Medicaid, the nation's top program for providing health care for low income people.Expansion of Medicaid eligibility was voluntary under the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obama Care"), but Ohio was one of the states that decided to go along with the expansion. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who pushed through Medicaid expansion over the opposition of many members of his own party, still has two years left in his term.Lawmakers in both the House and the Senate, which both have solid Republican majorities, are set to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but what they'll replace it with is only slowly becoming clear.U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican, both discussed Medicaid expansion in Ohio in separate phone calls with reporters.Nearly 700,000 Ohioans have health insurance coverage now because of Medicaid expansion, said Wendy Patton, senior project manager for Policy Matters Ohio, a think tank.Portman said the Republican leadership doesn't want to suddenly pull the rug out from under people who have used the Affordable Care Act to obtain coverage.He said leaders are discussing continuing Medicaid expansion funding either for two years or for three years — the length of time has not been determined yet. They also are discussing continuing health exchange subsidies, for now, Portman said.Portman said he also favors giving states more flexibility for how they run their Medicaid programs. He noted that the Obama administration has turned down the Kasich administration's request for a waiver on Medicaid rules."They know better than the bureaucrats in Washington do," Portman said.Portman asserted that the Affordable Care Act has been a drag on the economy and has now lower health care costs.He said a tax on medical devices has hurt job creation at Ohio companies, and related that he met an Ohio voter who was limited to 28 hours a week at her fast food restaurant. She needed more hours, but the company couldn't give them to her, because more than 30 hours would force a health insurance mandate to kick in, Portman said.Brown said he believes Republicans have no interest in preserving the Medicaid expansion.He said he spoke to Kasich about two weeks ago in Columbus, and will do all he can to preserve Medicaid.Brown said Republicans are about to throw 30 million Americans from their health care, with no solid plan to replace the program they are scrapping.He said that lowering the cost of prescription drugs will be a top priority of his in 2017. The steps he is asking Trump to pursue this year include allowing the federal government to negotiate better prices for Medicare patients.Rob PortmanU.S. Sherrod Brown