NASHVILLE - Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who is expected to declare his GOP presidential candidacy later this month, said in Nashville last week his state did the right thing by expanding Medicaid.
"To me, it's both a moral issue and it's an issue of arithmetic," said Kasich, a former congressman who, as House Budget Committee chairman, helped forge a deal that balanced the federal budget in the late 1990s.
Kasich told reporters during his trip to the state Capitol that Medicaid expansion allowed Ohio to recoup some of the federal dollars it was already sending to Washington.
Moreover, he said, it enabled the state to begin treating the mentally ill, who account for 20 percent of the state's prison population. It also let the state begin addressing prisoners' substance abuse problems, he said, and helped Ohio hospitals offset losses from unpaid bills resulting from emergency room visits by the uninsured working poor.
The impact on felons returning to society has been dramatic, he said, saying Ohio's recidivism rate is about 10 percent compared to a national average of 50 percent.
In Tennessee, Republican Gov. Bill Haslam failed twice this year to persuade fellow Republicans in the Senate to approve his plan to use federal dollars to extend health coverage to some 280,000 low-income people through a more market-driven plan.
If Kasich, as many expect, announces he'll run on July 21, he'll join 14 previously announced GOP candidates.
Asked what sets him apart, Kasich cited his 18 years of work in the U.S. House on budgets and familiarity with national security issues. He also touted his ability to work across the aisle, his private-sector experience and tenure as governor.
Ohio's finances were $8 billion in the red when he took office, Kasich noted.
"We've gone to a state now that's cut taxes more than any other state in the country," he said. "We've grown 360,000 jobs in the private sector. We have a balanced budget. We're running a $2 billion surplus and we don't leave anybody in the shadows.
"If you're mentally ill, drug-addicted, working poor, we're going to help you, we're going to help you get on your feet, hold you responsible, of course," he said of his record in Ohio. "But at the end of the day, both national security and executive experience in a big state, 10 years in the private sector and a record of achievement."
But people don't just look at resumés, he said, adding, "it's whether a resumé can come to life or not. And if I'm to get in, I'll go around and tell people who I am and then we'll see what they think. I'm not going to stand on a building and take my shirt off and yell so you'll come and cover me.
"I'll just be who I am. If it works, great. If it doesn't work, great, because I'll still be governor of Ohio."
Kasich is the latest of any number of presidential hopefuls coming to Tennessee. He's also making the rounds in the early presidential contest states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He's also launched TV ads in New Hampshire.
And he's got his eye as well on the "SEC primary" where several states including Tennessee and Georgia with college sports teams in the Southeastern Conference plan to hold their primary on March 1.
"This could be part of an SEC primary, and if I should decide to run for president, then it's obviously going to be a very important place," Kasich told reporters, noting he's also been to Georgia. "Anybody that's part of the SEC primary, you at least want to show up."
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550.