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.
Cody Klinker, MD, Provided Opponent Testimony on HB 580
On November 18, Ohio Academy of Family Physicians at-large member of the Board of Directors Cody Klinker, MD gave opponent testimony on House Bill (HB) 580 before the Ohio House Medicaid Committee. HB 580 would grant advanced practice registered nurses independent practice authority.
“Granting independent practice authority does not strengthen the team—it fractures it. It creates silos, reduces collaboration, and risks patient safety through fragmented care. That is not what our health system needs. Physicians and APRNs are both essential embers of the care team, but their training, education, and clinical preparation are not equivalent,” stated Dr. Klinker.
OAFP Submits Written Testimony on House Bill 353
Recently, the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) submitted written opponent testimony on House Bill 353, a bill which proposes changing the physician assistant (PA) title to Physician Associate.
AAFP Advocacy Updates
Efforts to Freeze Implementation of the Efficiency Adjustment
There are growing efforts amongst the procedural specialties to freeze implementation of the efficiency adjustment as finalized by the 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. More now than ever the Academy is asking you to impress upon Congress the importance of allowing the fee schedule to go into effect. Please Speak Out to your lawmakers to support the pro-primary care reforms in the MPFS.
Vote on Extending the ACA Enhanced Subsidies
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) expects the Senate to take up a vote on extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced subsidies prior to its expiration on Wednesday, December 31. It’s important that Congress hears from family physicians on the importance of extending these subsidies for two reasons (1) establishing stability in the ACA marketplace, and (2) creating a pathway toward conversations on long-term ACA reforms. The AAFP has an active Speak Out campaign and asks you to contact congress to extend the ACA tax credits.
Senate Plans Return to Close Pot-Hemp Deal
Source: NEA Consulting
The Ohio Senate has announced plans to return in December and adopt the conference report on Senate Bill (SB) 56, the pot-hemp omnibus measure lawmakers have been working on for months.
The Senate adjusted its previously announced calendar slightly, scrubbing an if-needed Wednesday, December 10, session in favor of a Tuesday, December 9 session.
Senate GOP spokesperson John Fortney confirmed the session will include a vote on SB 56 as well as “a few other bills.”
New Federal Law on Intoxicating Hemp Products Could Alter Ohio’s Plan to Regulate Them Like Cannabis
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
A new federal law on intoxicating hemp products could mean Ohio won’t regulate it through dispensaries as it does cannabis (Source: New Federal Law Could Torpedo Ohio’s Effort to Regulate Hemp Like Marijuana, Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 17, 2025).
A provision in the federal budget bill that ended the longest government shutdown in history also closed a loophole that allowed sales of intoxicating hemp products without regulation.
Ohio lawmakers, meeting in a conference committee, are sorting out how the state should regulate hemp. Legislation passed by the Ohio House called for dispensaries similar to those used to regulate the sale of cannabis. But House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima, OH) signaled the new federal law could mean Ohio won’t go that route, while he acknowledged some regulation is necessary.
The federal action will effectively ban unregulated sales of intoxicating hemp products in one year, according to a Senate Appropriations Committee summary. But sales could continue in states that enact their own regulations.
That is similar to cannabis, which is still federally prohibited, but regulated as a legal product for medical reasons and recreational uses in many states including Ohio.
The 2018 Farm Bill originally legalized hemp and defined it as cannabis containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight. Delta-9 is the most well-known psychoactive compound in cannabis. The loophole in federal law allowed for the proliferation of intoxicating hemp products that are not subject to the same safety, testing, or age-restriction rules as state-licensed cannabis.
November Issue of AAFP’s Family Medicine Advocacy Rounds
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has released its November issue of Family Medicine Advocacy Rounds, a monthly tip sheet to educate, engage, and update you on the latest policy issues affecting family physicians and their patients.
- Family Physicians Respond to 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
- Leading Physician Groups: Department of Education’s PSLF Rule Will Hurt Patients
and Physicians - AAFP Leaders Call on Lawmakers to Support Telehealth, Workforce, Medicare Payment
- AAFP Asks DOJ, FTC to Examine Anti-Competitive Health Plan Downcoding
- Family Physicians Advocate to Preserve ACA Tax Credits
- AAFP President to Discuss Community-Based Primary Care.
AAFP Speak Out Opportunities
Source: The American Academy of Family Physicians
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Speak Out tool enables you to directly contact your state officials, members of Congress, or the Office of the President on the issues that matter most to primary care.
- Speak Out: Urge Congress to Support the Newly Reintroduced Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act
- Speak Out: Make Telehealth Flexibilities Permanent
- Speak Out: Tell Your Lawmakers to Support Pro-Primary Care Reforms in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
- Speak Out: Support H-1B Physicians
- Speak Out: Urge Congress to Protect PSLF for Family Physicians.
Learn more about advocating for family medicine.
Ohio House Republicans Approve Ban on Prescribing Abortion Drugs via Telehealth
Source: Statehouse News Bureau
Doctors often use telehealth with a patient and then prescribe drugs. And some abortion providers have been using telehealth to prescribe abortion inducing drugs to patients. The latest Ohio Abortion Report shows there were 10,155 drug-induced abortions in the state in 2024.
Republicans in the Ohio House have approved a bill that puts abortion drugs in a class of drugs that cannot be prescribed via telehealth.
House Bill 324 would put unnamed abortion medications into a group of drugs, based on side effects and more, that would require an in-person visit before a doctor could prescribe them.
“While telehealth can be beneficial offering increased access to care and convenience, we have had stories both here and throughout the United States where this falls short with high risk medications,” said Representative Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon, OH), one of the bill’s joint sponsors.
Rep. Mathews said the bill, known as the Patient Protection Act, will ensure these drugs are not prescribed without an in-person visit.
“That addresses a critical public health concern in Ohio by protecting the doctor and patient relationship in the age of medical telehealth,” Rep. Mathews said.
But abortion rights advocates said there’s no need for this bill, and that it goes against the 2023 reproductive rights amendment voters approved.
“This legislature wants to endorse misinformation,” said Jaime Miracle of Abortion Forward. “This legislature is using a completely debunked study on mifepristone to attack access to the medication.”
Now that the bill has passed the House, it’s up to the Republican-dominated Senate to take up the legislation.
Ohio Republican Lawmaker Wants to Regulate Kratom Products and Ban Synthetic Kratom
Source: Ohio capital Journal
A Republican Ohio Senator wants to regulate natural kratom products and ban the synthetic version, while Governor Mike DeWine wants to ban all kratom products.
Senate Bill 299 would require those who sell, distribute, and make kratom to register with the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
The bill would also prohibit synthetic 7-hydroxymitragynine, known as 7-OH, limiting it to no more than one milligram in products.
Kratom products would only be sold to adults 18 and older under the bill.
Senator Bill Blessing (R-Colerain Township, OH) introduced the bill which recently had sponsor testimony during the Ohio Senate General Government Committee meeting.
“This legislation seeks to establish kratom product standards, labeling requirements, age restrictions, and rulemaking so consumers can make more informed decisions and so we can protect young Ohioans from the risks associated with this substance,” said Sen. Blessing.
Read the full article in the Ohio Capital Journal.