Ohio stands to lose $32.6 billion in federal Medicaid funds over a decade, KFF estimates, under a law Mike Carey's vote pushed through the House. That House count, on May 22, 2025, was 215 yeas to 214 nays. On July 3, 2025, Carey's aye went to the finished law.
Months before, Carey's votes decided the budget resolution. Its orders to the Medicaid committee: find no less than $880 billion. The final law, passed July 3, squeezes the add-on payments states route to hospitals. Medicaid covered 227,600 residents of Ohio's 15th District in 2025.
Mike Carey's Votes on Medicaid and Hospital Funding
- Carey Voted Twice for the Law That Cuts Ohio's Medicaid by $32.6 Billion. On May 22, 2025, Mike Carey said yes to H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The roll call ended 215 to 214, plus one present. Without Carey, it would have failed. On July 3, 2025, Carey said yes to final passage. That roll call ended 218 to 214. Congressional budget scorekeepers pegged the federal Medicaid reduction at $911 billion across ten years. They also forecast 10 million more uninsured people in 2034. KFF's state-level breakdown hands Ohio $32.6 billion of the reduction. That equals 13% of the federal Medicaid dollars Ohio was in line for.
- Carey's Deciding Budget Votes Ordered $880 Billion From the Medicaid Committee, in 2025. Carey cast a yes for H.Con.Res. 14, the House budget blueprint, on February 25, 2025. The margin was 217 to 215. He cast another yes for the blueprint's final text on April 10, 2025. That margin was 216 to 214. Had Carey flipped, each would have tied, and ties lose in the House. The blueprint instructed the Energy and Commerce Committee to "reduce the deficit by not less than $880,000,000,000". In May 2025, Carey also voted for the rule setting up debate on H.R. 1. The law enacted after the July 3, 2025 vote carried the Medicaid cuts. One caps provider taxes, a tool states use to fund Medicaid. Budget office scorers value that cap at $191 billion over ten years. A second cut restricts state-directed payments to hospitals. KFF expects "payment rates for hospital services will decrease in at least 37 states" once those restrictions start in 2028. For Ohio, about $2.16 billion a year in federal hospital spending lands above the new ceilings.
What Mike Carey's Medicaid Votes Cost Ohio's 15th District and Ohio Hospitals
- Medicaid covers 227,600 people in Ohio's 15th District, the program Carey voted to cut. In 2025, KFF figures put 227,600 people on Medicaid in Ohio's 15th District. Put another way, 28% of district residents. Children account for 81,100 of them. Seniors account for 19,300. Expansion adults, the group facing new work rules, number 57,400. Every one of them relies on the federal dollars this law pulls back.
- Carey's vote leaves 340,000 more Ohioans uninsured by 2034. By 2034, the law on its own adds 340,000 uninsured Ohioans, in KFF's projection. The low end is 250,000; the high end, 420,000. Ohio's uninsured rate climbs 3 points. Families who lose coverage pay for doctor visits out of their own pockets.
- Work rules are projected to strip Medicaid from 305,000 Ohioans by 2028. Manatt Health, in an estimate the Health Policy Institute of Ohio published, sees Ohio Medicaid shrinking by 305,000 people, or 10%, by 2028. The driver is the work requirement in the law Carey voted for. Losing Medicaid means losing the card that pays for prescriptions and hospital care.
- Rural Ohio's federal Medicaid shrinks by $5.62 billion across a decade. Over ten years, rural Ohio gives up $5.62 billion in federal Medicaid, by KFF's math. Losses were already common: the Ohio Hospital Association told lawmakers that "half of Ohio hospitals and 72% of rural hospitals have reported operating losses since 2022", the Ohio Capital Journal reported. Thinner Medicaid revenue gives those hospitals less to keep wards open and nurses on shift.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mike Carey on Health Care
What is Mike Carey's record on health care under Trump?
Mike Carey voted yes on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in May and again in July 2025, and the May 22 tally could not have passed without him. KFF tallies Ohio's Medicaid hit from it at $32.6 billion. Carey's budget votes, also decisive, told the Medicaid committee to find $880 billion or more in deficit reduction. The law he voted for on July 3 then capped provider taxes and hospital payments.
Did Mike Carey vote for Medicaid work requirements?
Yes. Mike Carey's July 3, 2025 vote went to a law ordering many Ohio expansion adults to log 80 hours a month of work, school, training or service. States must launch it "no later than January 1, 2027." Ohio's 15th District counted 57,400 expansion enrollees in 2025. Once the rule starts, each will have to report hours or qualify for an exemption.
Did Mike Carey vote to cut Medicaid payments to Ohio hospitals?
Yes. Mike Carey voted for limits on two streams of hospital Medicaid money: provider taxes and state-directed payments. Ohio's hospital provider tax is on KFF's list of state taxes set to shrink. KFF also sees hospital rates dropping in at least 37 states when the payment limits arrive in 2028.
Did Mike Carey vote to limit how far back Medicaid will pay medical bills?
Yes. Mike Carey voted to shorten Medicaid's look-back for bills run up before someone applies. For expansion adults, KFF says the law "Limits retroactive coverage to one month prior to application for coverage." The old rule reached back as far as 90 days before a person applied. KFF lists the new limit's effective date as January 1, 2027.
Last updated: 2026-10-27