Image of male nurse pushing senior woman in a wheelchair in nursing facility

In states such as Ohio, where budgets are getting more difficult to balance, Medicaid may seem like an easy target for cutbacks. But for every Medicaid dollar the state slashes, it loses $2 of matching funds, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Cutting Medicaid—which comprises 40% of the state’s budget—could have devastating consequences on recipients as it pays for 70% of nursing care, one in three births, and half of patients in Ohio’s children’s hospitals. Medicaid spending in Ohio is currently $15.4 billion per year, or $29,000 per minute, and the state is currently looking at a two-year budget shortfall of $8 billion.

Savings options on the table include cutting Medicaid dollars to providers, such as nursing homes; and expanding community-based care and in-home care.