Medicaid expansion adds up for Ohio families, taxpayers

Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, who prior to joining Vorys served for 16 years on the Ohio Supreme Court, authored an op-ed on the proposed expansion of Ohio’s Medicaid program for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. 

In the op-ed, Stratton says that just like when she was a judge, she put aside personal biases and feelings and judged the proposed expansion on evidence alone. After outlining the facts associated with the expansion she concludes the op-ed with the following:

“Why would we turn down these federal funds and instead use local dollars to pay for needs that already exist? Our federal income-tax dollars will go to other states and we still have to come up with the local dollars.

I have used my health insurance many times, including for surgery that I otherwise would never have been able to afford. But so many people have no such insurance. I am particularly concerned about those with serious mental illnesses. I saw many of them in my courtroom, and I know firsthand the ill effects of a lack of insurance and a poorly funded community behavioral health system.

Individuals who do not get needed physical and behavioral health treatment and their families struggle. Extending Medicaid to Ohio's lowest-income uninsured is the right thing to do for them and for all Ohioans.”

To read the entire op-ed, visit the Plain Dealer’s website.