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.
Medicaid Work Requirements, Rural Hospitals: What the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Means for Ohio
Source: The Cincinnati Enquirer
Thousands of Ohioans could drop off Medicaid or face new barriers to coverage even as the state prepares for an extra infusion of federal money.
President Donald Trump signed legislation on July 4 that will cut Medicaid by $1 trillion and make major changes to the federally- and state-funded health insurance program used by more than 3 million people in Ohio. The law passed as the Legislature finalized Ohio’s two-year budget, which made its own changes to the Medicaid program.
The federal law didn’t trigger a major part of the Ohio budget, which would eliminate Medicaid expansion coverage if the federal match falls below a certain level.
Instead, Republicans in Congress found a different way to cut spending: work requirements. Starting in 2027, adult Medicaid patients under 65 will need to prove they worked, volunteered, or attended school at least 80 hours per month. Ohioans with serious medical conditions, disabilities, or young children are exempt.
“The Medicaid program is intended for people who can’t work and can’t help themselves,” Senator Jon Husted, an Upper Arlington Republican, said. “We need to protect them. These reforms are about protecting that population.”
This means Ohio will adjust its plan to seek work requirements for adults under 55. The Ohio Department of Medicaid submitted a waiver earlier this year, saying nearly 62,000 people would lose coverage. An analysis from the Center for Community Solutions said the enrollment loss could be as high as 450,000 people.
Ohio will follow federal guidelines and adjust its work requirements accordingly. A Medicaid spokesperson could not provide updated estimates on coverage loss but said the department doesn’t expect “any major impact on enrollment.”
Read the full article in The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Appeals Court Strikes Down State Law Banning Local Regulation of Tobacco
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
A state appeals court recently struck down as unconstitutional a state law prohibiting local governments from regulating tobacco products as a “blatant disregard” of cities’ home-rule authority.
The decision sides with Governor Mike DeWine, who had twice vetoed the language only to see fellow Republicans in the General Assembly override his second veto.
Several other cities across the state came to the defense of Columbus, OH, whose ordinance banning flavored tobacco triggered the 2023 law.
An all-Democrat, three-judge panel of the 10th District Court of Appeals in Columbus unanimously agreed with the cities and upheld a permanent injunction issued by Franklin County Common Pleas Court to bar enforcement of the law.
Senate GOP Plans New Attempt to Reduce Federal Share of Medicaid Expansion Funding
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) believes he has a commitment from the White House and Senate GOP leadership to get another chance to repeal an expansion of Medicaid offerings — a controversial proposal that failed to make it in the final version of President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy package.
“I think I pretty well have a commitment. They’re going to do that,” Rep. Johnson told reporters of the prospects that Republicans will reconsider a provision that would end the federal government’s 90% cost share of funding for new enrollees in states that expanded Medicaid under the Democrats’ 2010 healthcare law.
The proposal to roll back the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion was floated by Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) as an amendment to the GOP megabill. That amendment, which was co-sponsored by Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), would have ended the 90% federal cost-share at the end of 2030. Afterwards, new enrollees would have seen their medical costs reimbursed by the federal government at rates as low as 50%.
The recently passed Ohio budget includes a trigger that would eliminate Medicaid expansion if the federal share is reduced below the current 90%.