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.
Local GOP Lawmaker Wants State-Mandated Disclaimer for Patients Receiving Abortion-Inducing Drugs
Source: Dayton Daily News
Anti-abortion advocates were recently at the Ohio Statehouse making their case for a bill that would require doctors to give patients a state-written disclaimer outlining their right to sue the manufacturers and medical providers of abortion-inducing drugs if they experience negative health consequences that they weren’t warned about.
Senate Bill 309, also known as the Abortion Pill Provider Liability Education Act (APPLE Act), spells out a two-paragraph disclaimer that would be provided to any patient prescribed mifepristone, a drug the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says blocks a hormone necessary for pregnancy to continue and is approved for use up to 10 weeks of gestation.
Misoprostol, a drug used in combination with mifepristone to induce an abortion, is not mentioned in the current draft of the bill.
Its sponsor, state Senator Kyle Koehler (R-Springfield, OH) told the Senate Health Committee in November 2025 that the disclaimer would provide “a framework for healthcare providers to educate a woman on the risks associated with a chemical abortion and makes her aware of her and her family’s rights to sue if the pill results in complications, injuries, a failed abortion, or her death.”
Katie DeLand, policy director for Ohio Right to Life, told the committee recently that it’s “long past time to put meaningful safeguards in place for women considering a chemical abortion.”
Read the full article in The Dayton Daily News.
Medicaid Work Requirements to Impact Middle-Aged Adults Most, Analysis Finds
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
New analysis from KFF found that adults ages 50 to 64, particularly women, are likely to be hit hard by new federal Medicaid work requirements. (Source: New Medicaid Work Rules Likely To Hit Middle-Aged Adults Hard, Kaiser Health News, February 11).
According to the KFF analysis, nearly three in 10 (29%) adults ages 50-65 who are enrolled in Medicaid are not meeting the 80-hour-per-month requirement and do not appear to qualify for an exemption.
Starting next January, about 20 million Americans in 42 states and Washington, D.C. (including Ohio), will need to meet the activity requirements to gain or keep Medicaid health coverage. States that didn’t expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act do not have to implement the work rules.
Learn more about how federal and state work requirements will impact Ohioans in the Health Policy Institute of Ohio’s policy explainer Medicaid Work Requirements in Ohio.
Bipartisan U.S. Senate Bill Aims to Slow Health Consolidation
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) have introduced legislation to crack down on healthcare conglomerates that own multiple parts of the industry. (Source: Warren, Hawley Introducing Legislation to Break Up ‘Big Medicine’, The Hill, February 10).
Warren and Hawley’s “Break Up Big Medicine Act” proposes prohibiting parent companies from owning a medical provider or management services organization and a prescription drug programs or insurer. It also proposes prohibiting parent companies of prescription drug or medical device wholesalers from owning a medical provider or management services organization.
Advocacy Group Says More Than 113,000 Ohioans Are Now Going Without Affordable Care Act Coverage
Source: The Ohio Capital Journal
According to the healthcare advocacy group Protect Our Care, more than 113,000 Ohioans are forgoing healthcare coverage on the federal Marketplace because of a congressional decision requested by the Trump Administration to let tax credits expire on Affordable Care Act premiums.
An Ohio legislator, a fellow doctor, and a retired Ohioan all said drops in enrollment to the Affordable Care Act due to the loss of federal assistance could cause long-term issues in the state.
The Ohio drop is the fourth highest in the country, behind North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, a study from the group found. Nationally, 1.2 million people have left the federal program.
The expiration of those tax credits meant increases in the amount Americans are paying for the Affordable Care Act coverage, sometimes doubling the amount needed to pay for the coverage.
“For me, the way I look at it, I have to pay $1,000 a month for the privilege of spending $10,000 a year in deductibles, just to have catastrophic coverage,” said Ohioan John Francis, on a virtual briefing hosted by Protect Our Care.
Read the full article in The Ohio Capital Journal.