OHIO: GOP Gov. Calls for $840 Million Tax Hike on Ohio Residents

Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich, folks:

Gov. John Kasich of Ohio said his comments about a Republican-led Congress being unlikely to repeal the Affordable Care Act — which commentators on the right and left pounced upon Monday — were taken out of context.

...Mr. Kasich, referring to repealing the Affordable Care Act, was quoted as saying “that’s not gonna happen.”

...“I’ve always thought if we got a majority we would repeal Obamacare,’’ he said. “My only point was they’d probably make an accommodation for Medicaid expansion.’’

...It is an open question how expanding Medicaid benefits as generously as the Affordable Care Act allows, to adults earning up to 138 percent of the poverty level, could be paid for without increased taxes and Medicare cost reductions also created by the health care law.

...“I’m in favor of repealing Obamacare,” he repeated. “That’s all I can tell you.’’

Well, let's see here.

• When I last checked in on Ohio's ACA Medicaid expansion tally about a month ago, it was up to 367,000 people.
• According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Ohio has to cover around 37% of "normal" Medicaid costs, with the feds picking up 63%.
• Also according to KFF, Medicaid costs around $6,200 per enrollee in Ohio.

That means that if the ACA was repealed and Ohio still wanted to expand Medicaid themselves to cover the same people Obamacare does now, that's 367K x 37% x $6,200 = $841,898,000 per year.

This is getting fun. I should do this for all 50 states.