Ohio Dems: Kasich on Repealing Medicaid Expansion: ‘Very, Very Bad Idea’

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 21 -- The Ohio Democratic Party issued the following news:

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is opposing congressional Republicans' plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act and "phase out Medicaid expansion," telling CNN this weekend that it would be "a very, very bad idea" -- but the Ohio Republicans lining up to replace Kasich are curiously quiet on the issue.

"I don't agree with John Kasich on much, but I absolutely stand with him on the issue of protecting health care for nearly one million Ohioans who would lose their coverage if congressional Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act," said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper. "Kasich exhibited real political courage when he expanded Medicaid for lower-income, working families, and today nearly 700,000 Ohioans have coverage through the ACA's Medicaid expansion. Unfortunately, Ohio Republicans in Congress like Pat Tiberi and Jim Jordan are backing a plan to end Medicaid expansion and force states to pick up the tab.

"The big question is this -- what will Mike DeWine, Jon Husted, Mary Taylor or Jim Renacci do? Will they stand with Kasich and fight for health coverage for Ohioans? Or will they follow the lead of Tiberi and Jordan, who want to kick hundreds of thousands of Ohioans off their insurance? And don't forget that repealing the ACA means blowing a $3.5 billion hole in Ohio's state budget. Anyone running for governor who backs ACA repeal should also be required to offer their plan for how they expect to fix that immediate multi-billion-dollar deficit."

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