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.
Study: Federal Work Requirements Could Cut Ohio Medicaid Expansion Enrollment in Half, Despite Many Meeting Exemption Requirements
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Federal Medicaid work requirements and more-frequent eligibility checks could cause half of Ohio’s Medicaid expansion population to lose their coverage, despite many having a job, going to school, or acting as a caregiver, according to a new report (Source: As Many As 356,000 Ohioans Will Lose Health Coverage Under Trump Spending Law, New Reports Says, Ohio Capital Journal, March 31).
The work requirements in HR 1 will likely take health coverage away from many who meet exemption requirements, according to an Urban Institute analysis 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, according to the report.
The losses are in addition to at least 113,000 Ohioans who have already lost health coverage this year after tax credits in Affordable Care Act marketplaces expired. That number is expected to grow, and nearly half of those losing coverage work for, or own, small businesses, the KFF analysis found.
10 Ohio Hospitals Face Risk of Closure Due to Trump/Republican Spending Law, Analysis Shows
Source: Ohio Capital Journal
Ten safety-net hospitals are at risk of closure in Ohio due to health cuts under a Republican spending law President Donald Trump signed last summer, according to a new analysis.
The law also cut taxes on the richest 1% of Americans by $1 trillion. Ohio Republican U.S. Senator Jon Husted, who voted for it, declined to comment.
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act cuts nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years, and those cuts risk closing 446 safety-net hospitals nationwide, said the report by Public Citizen.
“The cuts will be devastating to many low-income and disabled individuals who rely on Medicaid,” the report said.
“Moreover, they will have knock-on effects on hospitals that disproportionately serve these communities, deepening the financial strain already plaguing rural and safety-net hospitals and compromising their ability to deliver care, potentially leading many to close.”
Prior to the bill’s passage, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Medicaid cuts and the loss of tax credits in Affordable Care Act marketplaces would cost 16 million Americans their health coverage.
Those people will keep getting sick and hospitals will have to cover at least part of their care. That’s particularly true of their emergency departments, which must take people regardless of their ability to pay.
Read the full article in The Ohio Capital Journal.
Ohio’s Decision to Evenly Distribute Supplemental SNAP Funding to all Counties will Create Large Per Capita Differences
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
The July 2025 federal reconciliation bill HR 1, sometimes called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” cuts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding for Ohio by a total of about $38 million between October and June 2027. Recently, Governor Mike DeWine signed legislation that includes $12.5 million to be distributed evenly among all 88 counties to offset these federal cuts to SNAP administrative funds (Source: DeWine signs bill to help offset federal food-stamp cuts, but large counties left short, Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 1).
Ohio’s decision to give equal shares of the supplemental administrative funding to all counties regardless of SNAP enrollment means larger counties will receive substantially less per SNAP household than smaller counties.
The state’s funding approach, which is included in House Bill 730, also means 59 counties will have their federal cuts completely covered while 26 counties with more SNAP enrollment will get a maximum of $226,486, a small fraction of the funds lost due to federal cuts (Cuyahoga County’s share, for example, will replace just 3% of the federal money the county is expected to lose and Franklin County’s will cover about 4% of the loss).
Last week, the Center for Community Solutions shared a table from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services showing estimated federal funding reductions and estimated state supplemental payments for all 88 counties.
The Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) recently released a new policy explainer titled SNAP at a Glance: Key Changes from HR 1 to outline many of the potential impacts of recent federal policy changes on the nutrition support program. HPIO Health Policy Analyst Robin Blair-Ackison also recorded a brief video explainer about the changes to SNAP.
Ohio Fetal Life and Death Certificate Bill Faces Privacy Concerns
Source: WLWT5 Cincinnati (NBC)
A new proposal at the Ohio Statehouse would create a registry of pregnancies once a fetal heartbeat is detected. The measure has been introduced by Republican Representative Jean Schmidt of Loveland, OH, but it is facing fierce opposition over privacy concerns.
House Bill 754 would require healthcare professionals to file a certificate of life once a heartbeat is detected, while also requiring a registry of all fetal deaths, including those resulting from stillbirth, miscarriage, and abortion.
In a news release, Rep. Schmidt said the legislation “aims to further defend and honor the sanctity of life beginning in the womb.” Rep. Schmidt has not responded to repeated requests for an interview.
Opponents, including Abortion Forward, argue the bill raises serious privacy concerns and would create a state-run system to monitor pregnancies.
“This bill is dystopian and should be disturbing to everyone who hears about it because it would create a government registry of pregnancies so that they can track pregnancies from the beginning to the end,” said Kellie Copeland, executive director of Abortion Forward, formerly Pro-Choice Ohio.
Democratic lawmakers are also condemning the proposal. State Representative Terrence Upchurch (D-Cleveland, OH) called it an extreme overreach of power and a complete invasion of privacy.
Read the full article in WLWT5 Cincinnati (NBC).