COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. John Kasich touted expansion of Ohio’s Medicaid program in his State of the State address as the right and compassionate thing to do, invoking his personal faith and lessons from “the Good Book” as a guide in his decision. The governor urged lawmakers to examine their consciences and not let concerns about government spending, something conservative Republicans in the General Assembly have expressed, trump what he laid out as a moral imperative: helping the less fortunate.

CLEVELAND, Ohio --Saying that an expansion of Medicaid will help “some of the poorest Ohioans, Gov. John Kasich included the much-anticipated announcement in his two-year budget proposal Monday. The move makes Ohio one of a growing number of Republican-led states to fulfill an option under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to expand Medicaid to those who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

CLEVELAND, Ohio --- More than 1,000 rallied at Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland on Thursday night to show their support for expanding Medicaid in Ohio.  The assembly brought together members of religious congregations, community groups and major health care providers to demonstrate community support for expanding Medicaid.

The Massachusetts legislature passed a first-in-the-nation bill on Tuesday that seeks to limit the growth of health care costs in the state.  The bill would not allow spending on health care to grow any faster than the state’s economy through 2017. For five years after that, any rise in health care costs would need to be half a percentage point lower than the increase in the state’s gross domestic product.

An Irish adage says: “When you come to a wall that is too high to climb, throw your hat over the wall, and then go get your hat.” That’s what Massachusetts started with its 2006 law requiring just about everyone to get coverage and arranging to make that coverage affordable. Now, it’s time to get the hat.  Legislation to contain costs is the necessary sequel. Reducing costs won’t just rescue health care; it will also help rescue our schools, our roads, our museums, our wages, and the competitiveness of our corporations; that’s because every additional nickel we spend on health care comes from somewhere else — somewhere also important.

Religious and business leaders in Massachusetts are calling for state lawmakers to rein in health spending more aggressively than House Speaker Robert DeLeo has proposed, but groups representing doctors and hospitals warned that slowing spending too sharply could be harmful.  The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, which has provided a significant consumer voice throughout the state’s health care overhaul, said Tuesday night that DeLeo’s proposal to cap health care cost increases at about 3.7 percent annually, an amount comparable to the yearly growth in the state’s economy, was insufficient. DeLeo said recently that was his goal for containing costs in a long-awaited bill expected to be filed shortly and acted on by legislators this summer.

The Massachusetts law has had strong and steady support — and little opposition. Last year an attempt to repeal the "individual mandate" — the part that requires most people to have insurance — couldn't get enough signatures. Last week only 39 people had "liked" its Facebook page. To get an idea of how it's working at the ground level, I stopped by the office of Dieufort Fleurissaint, a self-employed Haitian-American businessman. He has a tax prep and insurance business. He's also an evangelical minister who worked with a group called Greater Boston Interfaith Organization that helped get the health law passed.

As lawmakers and industry leaders toil over plans to fundamentally change how health care is paid for in Massachusetts, two leading consumer groups are asking them to give ratepayers a one-year reprieve from premium increases. At a noontime rally at the State House today, Health Care for All and the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization plan to call for a 2012 freeze on base premium rates that have jumped sharply in the past decade. The idea is to pressure decision makers, particularly insurers and hospitals, to hash out a long-term plan at a quicker pace...

A group of over 200 Howard County residents pushing a new fall agenda to benefit unemployed youth and the aging got quick promises of support from Democratic County Executive Ken Ulman but not from Trent Kittleman, his Republican challenger.

People Acting Together in Howard, a coalition of 15 churches, one mosque and several citizens groups, wanted both Ulman and Kittleman to support their plans for more aggressive youth employment programs and more help to allow the elderly to stay in their homes. PATH is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation, a group founded by the late Saul Alinsky, a well-known community organizer...

More than 1,700 people clapped their hands, sang "Amen," and vowed to keep pushing for measures to improve people's lives at the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization's 10th anniversary celebration last night...