Records obtained by the Associated Press show the state did not hesitate to spend the first round of federal funding targeting the opioid crisis, unlike other states, to expand Medicaid.
State officials spent 73 percent of the money received last year as part of a two-year, nearly 1 billion dollar grant program from the 21st Century Cures Act. AP reports states that expanded Medicaid spent less than those that did not do so. The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services says it used the dollars to fill gaps in the response to the opioid crisis not covered by Medicaid expansion.
