COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio House speaker said he hasconcerns about whether the governor’s
move to get Medicaid expansionfunding through a legislative panel and bypass the full General
Assemblyviolates the Ohio Constitution.House Speaker William Batcheldertold reporters Wednesday that he
and more than 30 representatives havenoted their concerns in a letter that will be part of the House’s
dailyrecord."This is the most divisive issue that has come up in thecountry and in Ohio," said
Batchelder, a Medina Republican. "There areobviously a number of us who had different theories
about what ought tohappen."Medicaid expansion is one of the key components of Democratic President
Barack Obama’s federal health care law.Thefederal government would pay the entire cost of the expansion
for thefirst three years, gradually phasing down to 90 percent — still wellabove Ohio’s current level of
64 percent.Ohio recently gotapproval from the federal government to extend its Medicaid eligibility.But
Republican Gov. John Kasich’s administration needs legislativesign-off to spend federal dollars on the
estimated 366,000 residents whowill be newly eligible.Kasich turned to the state Controlling Board for
approval. The board handles certain adjustments to the state budget.TheKasich administration has asked
for the authority to spend $561.7million in federal funds this budget year and almost $2 billion
nextyear on expansion to cover the new Medicaid population.The panel is scheduled to vote on the request
on Monday.Batchelder said board approval of the funds could spark a lawsuit. "There are a lot of
questions inherent in this," he said.Kasichhas pushed for Medicaid expansion since February. But
theGOP-controlled Legislature has balked at the idea and has tried to findcommon ground on other changes
to the federal-state program thatprovides coverage to the poor and disabled.Medicaid already covers one
of every five Ohioans.Batcheldersaid he hasn’t decided whether he’ll change his Republican lineup onthe
Controlling Board. The seven-member board has two GOPrepresentatives, who are designated by the
speaker.The governor’sdecision on Medicaid expansion won praise Wednesday from Health andHuman Services
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was in Cincinnati for apanel discussion on the president’s health care
law."I am pleased that the governor is planning to move forward, and we’ll hopefully see a
successful vote on Monday," she said.___Associated Press writer Lisa Cornell contributed to this
report from Cincinnati.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.