CLEVELAND — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine discussed changes to Medicaid during a visit to UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital Thursday morning.
After meeting with the hospital leaders, staff members, and a patient being treated with immunotherapy for sickle cell anemia, DeWine answered some questions.
Topics like how new work requirements will impact Ohioans' access to health care, and how Sen. John Husted (R-Ohio) helped preserve funds for hospitals were covered.
He said Ohio had already put in a work requirement for the state's Medicaid recipients earlier this year.
The federal legislation known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" requires adult Medicaid recipients to prove they are working in order to receive health benefits.
Recipients will have to prove they worked or volunteered at least 80 hours each month. There are exceptions for recipients with serious medical conditions or disabilities.
"I wasn't there to vote on it," he said. "As governor, I deal with the hand that we're dealt."
"We already had, for example, a working requirement that we put in and asked the federal government to approve. We think... that makes sense," DeWine said. "This will not go into effect for some time but when it does go into effect, we would certainly hope... that people will be able to comply."
DeWine also said projections estimating the number of Ohioans who will lose coverage as a result of work requirements are just projections.
"We don't really know how these changes are going to really impact the number of people who are served," he said.
"We will do everything we can to make sure that all Ohioans get good medical care," he added.
The bill could have been worse for Ohio, according to DeWine.
He said University Hospital's leaders reached out to him about their concerns. He connected them to Husted, who was able to grandfather in some of the money Ohio receives through Medicaid that goes to hospitals.
"Husted, he made a huge, huge contribution and but for him, this would not have been good for our hospitals," DeWine said.
