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.
ACA Enrollments Down in Ohio as Senate Negotiates Deal to Extend Tax Credits
Source: Hannah News
As a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH), continue negotiating an extension for recently lapsed Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, the loss of those subsidies is already affecting the number of Ohioans enrolling in ACA plans.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), the number of Ohioans who enrolled in a Healthcare.gov plan during the 2026 open enrollment period through January 4 was 463,086 compared to 568,904 Ohioans who enrolled during the same period in 2025. Open enrollment in most states, including Ohio, ended on January 15.
KFF also estimates that ACA premiums could more than double nationwide, increasing by an average of 114%, in 2026 if tax credits are not extended.
“What I think Ohioans need and deserve is to have gotten this deal and this bill passed last year before they saw these premium increases hit. So right now, I think the most urgent thing, the most critical thing for our leaders to do is to get something passed,” said Policy Matters Ohio (PMO) Executive Director Hannah Halbert recently at a demonstration in Columbus, OH, urging Sen. Moreno and U.S. Senator Jon Husted (R-OH) to vote for extending ACA enhanced premium tax credits.
According to The Hill, Sen. Moreno had previously said that senators would have text for a bipartisan deal as soon as this week, though recently he pushed that timeframe back to the end of January.
Read the full article in Hannah News.
Trump Axes Funding for the Vulnerable in Ohio then Restores it Amid Backlash
Source: Ohio Capital Journal
The Trump Administration notified agencies recently that it was suddenly terminating $2 billion — including millions in Ohio — for programs supporting vulnerable people. Amid a powerful backlash, it reversed itself a day later.
The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently sent letters to public and private providers of services to support children’s mental health, prevent teen suicide, help the homeless, assist the addicted, and other services.
Across the country, workers in those programs were left to wonder how they’d pay their own bills — and to worry what would happen to those who had suddenly lost their help.
Even with the reversal of the cuts, the chaos further demoralized social-services workers already reeling from deep Republican cuts to Medicaid and federal food assistance that Trump signed last summer, NPR reported.
SAMHSA is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human services. That agency is led by Robert Kennedy Jr., himself a recovering drug addict who has made highly controversial changes to health policy.
The agency’s letter notified providers that it was terminating programs “if an award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.”
Mental health and substance-abuse recovery programs were among those being cut despite those priorities being in the agency’s name.
Read the full article in The Ohio Capital Journal.
States Consider Laws to Regulate AI Therapy Chatbots
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
States are passing laws to prevent artificially intelligent (AI) chatbots, such as ChatGPT, from being able to offer mental health advice to young users, following a trend of people harming themselves after seeking therapy from the AI programs (Source: AI Therapy Chatbots Draw New Oversight as Suicides Raise Alarm, Ohio Capital Journal, January 16).
Chatbots might be able to offer resources, direct users to mental health practitioners, or suggest coping strategies. But many mental health experts say that’s a fine line to walk, as vulnerable users in dire situations require care from a professional, someone who must adhere to laws and regulations around their practice.