Tag Archive for: Governor Kasich

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Lawsuit: Ohio’s Attempted Medicaid Expansion Unlawful

Governor’s end-run around the Ohio General Assembly violates the separation of powers, Controlling Board’s vote impermissibly contradicts General Assembly intent

Columbus, OH – The 1851 Center for Constitutional Law late yesterday moved in the Ohio Supreme Court, on behalf of six veteran Ohio legislators and two of Ohio’s largest pro-life organizations, to stop Ohio’s executive branch from expanding Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) Medicaid spending without legislative approval.

The legal action is filed on behalf of State Representatives Matt Lynch, Ron Young, Andy Thompson, Ron Maag, John Becker, and Ron Hood, and Cleveland Right to Life and Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati. These representatives and groups combine to represent nearly 1 million Ohioans.

The action asserts that in accepting jurisdiction over and passing the Governor’s proposed Medicaid spending, the Controlling Board exceeded its legal authority by acting inconsistently with the intent of the Ohio General Assembly. Specifically:

R.C. 127.17 states: “The Controlling Board shall take no action which does not carry out the legislative intent of the general assembly regarding program goals and levels of support of state agencies as expressed in the prevailing appropriation acts of the general assembly.”

The Ohio General Assembly first removed Governor Kasich’s proposed expansion of Medicaid spending from the state budget bill, and then inserted a prohibition against the expansion and spending.

Article II of the Ohio Constitution requires that the legislature, rather than administrative boards such as the Controlling Board, make major policy decisions.

In a 1980 challenge to the Controlling Board, the Ohio Supreme Court held that the Controlling Board’s authority is only constitutional because it must adhere to the intentions of the General Assembly, and because of “the availability of mandamus relief” through the High Court.

“Many competent individuals make strong arguments against Medicaid Expansion on policy grounds. Success in our lawsuit, however, will not prohibit changes to Medicaid through legitimate means. Our lawsuit stands for the simple proposition that neither this Governor nor any other is a king,” said Maurice Thompson, Executive Director of the 1851 Center.

“For government to be limited, the making of transformational public policy requires the assent of the Ohio General Assembly, and cannot be done through administrative overreach. This occasion requires Ohioans to draw a line in the sand and affirm that we’d rather not bring Washington D.C.- style decision-making to Ohio.”

The Supreme Court of the United States, in its seminal decision last July in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, explained that the spending expansion transforms a state’s Medicaid program from “a program to care for the neediest among us” to “an element of a comprehensive national plan to provide universal health insurance coverage” that “dramatically increases state obligations under Medicaid,” and is “an attempt to foist an entirely new health care system upon the States.”

Read the Complaint HERE.

October 23, 2013: Dayton Business Journal: Ohio Medicaid expansion gets legal challenge

October 23, 2013: WOSU NPR 89.7: Activists, Lawmakers Bring Promised Lawsuit Over Medicaid

October 22, 2013: Cincinnati.com: SW Ohio conservatives file suit to stop Medicaid expansion

October 22, 2013: Bloomberg: Ohio Medicaid Expansion Plan Challenged in Lawsuit

October 21, 2013: New York Times: Medicaid Expansion Is Set for Ohioans

October 21, 2013: Columbus Dispatch: Medicaid-expansion opponents plan to sue Kasich administration

October 21, 2013: 60 Seconds Ohio: Maurice Thompson answers questions following Ohio expansion of Medicaid [VIDEO]

October 14, 2013: NBC 4: Controlling Board Medicaid Maneuver May Face Legal Challenge [VIDEO]

Ohio Constitution Prohibits Legislators from Enacting State Insurance Mandates

Legal center advises Ohio legislators that mandating health treatments and benefits violates Ohio’s Health Care Freedom Amendment

Columbus, OH – The 1851 Center for Constitutional Law today emphasized to Ohio’s state senators and representatives that the Ohio Health Care Freedom Amendment, added to Ohio’s Bill of Rights in late 2011, prohibits the state from mandating that Ohioans health insurance purchases include new previously-un-mandated benefits and services. The 1851 Center is the public interest law firm that drafted the Amendment and represents its advocates and sponsors.

The 1851 Center legal memorandum (“A Policymaker’s Guide to Following the Health Care Freedom Amendment“) comes in response to recent news of the Kasich Administration’s purported executive action attempting to mandate that all Ohioans purchase autism-related coverage. The memorandum observes that while the Governor’s action — simply a letter to the Obama Administration recommending that it impose autism coverage on Ohioans — may not be a forbidden “law or rule,” any state legislation will indeed violate the Amendment.

Specifically, the memorandum explains that any state-based insurance mandate is highly likely to violate all three substantive provisions of the Amendment, while also transgressing its spirit and purpose:

  • Most mandates will compel participation in, through purchase of coverage for, a “health care system,” as that phrase is broadly defined in the Amendment. (Division (A) of Section 21, Article I).
  • Mandates necessarily prohibit the purchase of insurance coverage without the newly-mandated coverage. (Division (B) of Section 21, Article I).
  • Mandates impermissibly sanction those who sell or purchase private health care insurance without also purchasing the newly-mandated coverage. (Division (C) of Section 21, Article I).

“State-based health insurance mandates are one of the primary drivers of the increased cost of health insurance premiums in Ohio,” said Maurice Thompson, Executive Director of the 1851 Center. “ We drafted the Health Care Freedom Amendment keenly aware of this problem, and with the full intention of stopping this practice, while further ensuring that the State of Ohio does not compound the challenges presented by Obamacare’s health care mandates and penalties.”

The memorandum further notes that the official “arguments for” the Amendment, approved by the Ohio Secretary of State and which appeared on Ohioans’ ballots, specified that the Amendment prohibited state government from forcing Ohioans “to pay more to upgrade your existing health insurance to meet government requirements,” and would “[p]rohibit government from forcing you into government insurance or medical treatment you don’t want.”

Finally, the memorandum observes that “[i]f the purpose behind the mandate is to provide access for those who cannot afford certain types of health treatments or products, then the mandate is a poorly-adapted policy solution,” because mandates conceal state spending and constitute a hidden tax, impose a one-size-fits all system in a world of varying health care needs, do not provide benefits on the basis of need, and impose greater hardships on small business and individuals than others.

Added Thompson, “although many of Ohio’s elected leaders opposed the federal health care mandate and supported our Amendment, six individual health insurance mandates were introduced during Ohio’s last legislative session. As the legislature begins a new session, it is our hope that clarifying the application of the Health Care Freedom Amendment to state mandates may avert unconstitutional legislation and subsequent litigation.”

Read “A Policymaker’s Guide to Following the Health Care Freedom Amendment” HERE.

Learn more about the Health Care Freedom Amendment HERE.

Listen to Maurice Thompson discuss the trouble with state health insurance mandates HERE.

January 26, 2013: Toledo Watch: Autism coverage plan may violate Ohio Constitution’s newest amendment

January 14, 2013: Brian Thomas Morning Show on 55KRC Radio:

January 10, 2013: Heartland.org: Without State Exchange, Ohio Small Businesses Have Standing to Sue IRS

January 9, 2013: NBC4i: Gov. Kasich Signs Directive Mandating Coverage For Autism [VIDEO]