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Medicaid expansion adds up for Ohio families, taxpayers

Cleveland Plain Dealer

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.

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