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.
As Many as 356,000 Ohioans Will Lose Health Coverage Under Trump Spending Law, New Reports Says
Source: Ohio Capital Journal
Medicaid work requirements that are part of the Trump/Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act could cause 356,000 people in Ohio to lose their healthcare coverage, according to a new report, on top of about 113,000 who have already lost coverage after tax credits were allowed to expire.
The work requirements that are part of the Republican spending law claim to break the cycle of dependency; but in Ohio, they will take health coverage away from huge numbers who are already employed, in school, or are caregivers, according to the analysis that was published last week.
In fact, it could take coverage away from a full half, or 356,000, of those who get coverage under a 2014 expansion of Medicaid eligibility as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), said the report by Urban Institute with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Nationally, between five and 10 million low-income Americans covered by their states’ Medicaid expansions will lose their insurance, it said.
The losses are in addition to at least 113,000 Ohioans who have already lost health coverage this year after Republicans allowed tax credits in ACA marketplaces to expire. That number is sure to grow, and nearly half of those losing coverage work for or own small businesses.
Read the full article in The Ohio Capital Journal.
DOJ Investigating Ohio State Medical School Admissions Practices
Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating The Ohio State University (Ohio State) College of Medicine to determine whether race played a role in their admissions practices.
The move is the latest in a trend in the Trump Administration, which has consistently advocated against efforts regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion.
On March 25 Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, sent a letter to Ohio State notifying the university that the department is conducting a “compliance review” under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
The investigation will examine whether the College of Medicine’s admissions policies violate Title VI. The DOJ also contacted Stanford University and the University of California, San Diego, according to the New York Times.
The DOJ is requesting “all documents guiding medical school admissions policies and procedures,” as well as any documents “related to the use or lack of use in evaluating applicants.”
Read the full article in The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
GOP Lawmaker Says Bill Will Help Ohioans Leave Medicaid, But Other Changes Are Also Needed
Source: Statehouse News Bureau
About three million Ohioans are on Medicaid or other supports for low-income residents. A Republican lawmaker who’s proposed several high-profile bills said latest one will help many of those recipients to slowly move off that system to private insurance.
Representative Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Twp., OH) said people on Medicaid often turn down a promotion or pay raise because that would make them ineligible for benefits.
“The system is broken,” he said.
“This type of public subsidy was always guided to be a safety net, a very short-term program to help people when they fall to the lowest they’ve been at in their lives,” Rep. Williams said. “But unfortunately, these programs have turned into quicksand that can hold our residents in perpetual poverty because of the income guidelines and the benefit cliffs associated with these programs that drives individuals to make choices not to take a pay raise.”
Rep. Williams said he was familiar with the issue after he was recovering from an injury and was receiving disability benefits.
Read the full article in The Statehouse News Bureau.
Ohio House Once Again Passes 24-hour Waiting Period Bill for Abortion Care
Source: Ohio Capital Journal
Ohio House Republicans recently passed a bill that would effectively bring back the state’s 24-hour waiting period for abortion care, despite a previous 24-hour law being blocked for violating the constitutional amendment passed by Ohio voters in 2023.
Ohio House Bill 347 requires abortion providers to meet with a patient at least 24 hours ahead of an abortion, to provide consent statements about the procedure.
Opponents of the bill said it is unnecessary and will create barriers to care for those who can’t access care close to their home, or who don’t have stable supports for things like childcare and paid time off.
Supporters like anti-abortion organizations said the bill does not bar abortion from happening, but merely ensures information is being provided to patients as is required.
The Republican-led bill had the support of the party in the Ohio House recently, passing with a vote of 64-32.
Bill co-sponsor state Representative Mike Odioso (R-Cincinnati, OH) brought up the constitutional amendment that established abortion rights in the state constitution at the beginning of his comments on the House floor.
He claimed the bill “does not seek to re-litigate the decision of Ohio voters made in August of 2023, but rather to provide women with the full protection of informed medical consent when making a stressful, life-altering decision.”
Read the full article in The Ohio Capital Journal.