The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) advocacy team monitors healthcare related legislation, rule changes, and legislative updates for Ohio’s family physicians.
To access the OAFP Bill Tracker, visit the OAFP Public Policy webpage and click on the Bill Tracker icon.
Read on for this week’s updates and contact Advocacy Coordinator Kaela Springhetti with questions or for ways to get involved.
Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Ohio Minors in Effect Again after Ruling
Source: Statehouse News Bureau
The Ohio Supreme Court is allowing a ban on gender-affirming care for minors ruling to go back into effect, a little over a month after the Tenth District Court of Appeals blocked it. The ruling means House Bill (HB) 68 can be applied while the Ohio Supreme Court decides its next move.
“The Supreme Court of Ohio did not issue a written opinion with reasoning on why the stay was granted, so we still don’t know exactly what their thinking is on this case,” said David Carey, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. “We don’t know what they may think about the merits of this case or whether the stay is simply pressing the pause button while they consider a weighty issue. We don’t know that.
“In the meantime,” David Carey said, “families of children seeking gender-affirming healthcare are caught in a quandary.
“Many of them are being forced to seek healthcare out of state. Those who are unable to may very well be simply denied this critical and even life-saving healthcare,” David Carey said. “Those who have already undertaken a course of treatment in gender affirming care are allowed, under the law, to continue that. But those who need it on a new basis will be forbidden from doing so.”
Bethany McCorkle, spokesperson for Attorney General Dave Yost, said, “We are pleased that the Ohio Supreme Court confirmed that Ohio’s law protecting children from drug-induced gender transitions remains in effect as the case moves forward.”
We look forward to showing once again that the legislature acted properly in enacting this constitutional law, which protects our children from irreversible medical decisions,” Bethany McCorkle said.
HB 68, known as the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, also includes a ban on trans athletes playing girls’ sports, but that’s already in effect and is not affected by this lawsuit.
The legislation has been controversial. It was put in place after Republican lawmakers overrode Governor Mike DeWine’s veto in 2023. Gov. DeWine had said he was concerned about the effects of the ban after meeting with parents of trans kids, and had proposed a set of agency rules to track treatments.
There’s no word on when the Ohio Supreme Court might hold hearings on whether to take up the case.
Opponents of Higher Education, Anti-DEI Senate Bill 1 Cleared To Collect Signatures
Source: The Columbus Dispatch
An effort to block the sweeping higher education law, Senate Bill (SB) 1, opponents can now collect signatures to put the anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) legislation up for a statewide vote.
A group of Youngstown State University faculty is leading the effort to block SB 1, an extensive revision of higher education policy in Ohio. But they are on a tight timeline: they have until the end of June to collect about 248,000 valid signatures to make the fall ballot.
On May 5, they cleared their first hurdle. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost certified the title and summary language for the proposed referendum to repeal SB 1.
The next step is collecting signatures from voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, in addition to the grand total, which is 6% of the last governor’s race’s results. They have 90 days from March 28, when Governor Mike DeWine signed the bill, to collect those signatures.
SB 1, championed by Senator Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland, OH), bans DEI programs at Ohio’s public universities and colleges. It also prevents faculty from striking, makes it easier to fire tenured faculty and requires syllabi be posted online.
The bill is already having an impact. The Ohio State University DEI offices. Ohio University announced it would close its Multicultural Center, Pride Center, and Women’s Center, WOUB reported.
Opponents of the bill face a challenge, because successful referendums to block state laws are rare. The latest attempt was a well-funded effort to block House Bill 6, which included a bailout for two nuclear plants. It failed, but the FBI probe of that campaign led to the conviction of Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder for his role in a statehouse corruption scandal.
Before that, Ohio voters successfully overturned an anti-collective bargaining bill in 2011, dealing a political blow to then-Governor John Kasich.
Ohio Senate Unanimously Passes Bill Regulating Hemp Products
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
A bill banning intoxicating hemp products from being sold in gas stations, convenience stores, or anywhere else outside of a licensed dispensary passed the Ohio Senate 33-0 recently.
Senate Bill 86, now heads to the Ohio House for further consideration. It’s the latest in a growing line of otherwise stalled attempts to regulate intoxicating hemp in Ohio.
The bill targets “intoxicating hemp products,” defined as any product with more than two milligrams of delta-9 THC (the psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana) or more than 0.5 milligrams of any other “non-delta-9 THC” (like delta-8 or THCA, which can also make users feel high) per package.
Under current law, those products — derived from hemp and protected under the federal Farm Bill — can be sold just about anywhere in the state and to anyone at the seller’s discretion.
Such products are often sold in gas stations, convenience stores or CBD stores, and have frequently been targeted by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and other opponents for their potential appeal to children through colorful packaging and subliminal branding.
SCOTUS to Hear ACA Preventive Care Case
Source: OhioHealth Government Relations Newsletter
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) recently heard arguments in a case challenging a provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires private insurers to cover healthcare screenings, tests, and checkups for free.
The Court’s eventual ruling will have direct consequences for patient access to preventive healthcare across the country.
The ACA requires most insurers to cover a wide range of prevention services at no cost to patients — including cancer screenings, mammograms, statins for heart disease, and HIV prevention medications. About 150 million people are currently enrolled in private health insurance plans that cover free prevention services.
SCOTUS is expected to decide on the case sometime in June. If the court strikes down the ACA rule, insurers could deny coverage for preventive services recommended by the task force. If the free preventive services requirement goes away, coverage could vary by insurance company.