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.
Medicaid Shake‑Up Could Impact 3 Million Ohioans and Billions of Dollars
Source: The Columbus Dispatch
Major changes are coming to Ohio Medicaid, the healthcare program that covers 3 million low-income Ohioans and costs $43 billion each year.
Ohio could lose up to $3 billion in state and federal funds for Medicaid in the next two years, experts estimate.
The federal government’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will change how states can tax hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers to help pay for Medicaid.
If Ohio doesn’t rework some existing taxes by July 2027, it’ll lose about $640 million in state funds and $1.5 billion in federal matching money starting in July 2028. Ohio could lose another $733 million to $933 million in state and federal money as Ohio’s hospital franchise fee is phased down.
The federal government is also mandating work requirements for about 760,000 people enrolled in Ohio Medicaid.
Now is a good time for Ohio leaders to do a deep dive into Medicaid, decide how to deal with coming changes and determine if the program is working as it should, said Amy Rohling McGee, president of Health Policy Institute of Ohio.
Read the full article in The Columbus Dispatch.
Sponsors Say Two Bills Would Save Ohio Medicaid Millions by Removing ‘Middlemen’
Source: Statehouse News Bureau
Republican former Governor George Voinovich often called Medicaid “the Pac-Man of the state budget,” as costs for the program rose and ate up more and more of the state budget.
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers want to tackle that problem by moving away from private corporations called managed care organizations (MCOs). Those were implemented in Ohio in 2005 with the goal of administering Medicaid while reducing costs. But critics say the MCOs themselves are part of the problem. A group of bipartisan lawmakers has come up with a plan to do away with MCOs altogether.
Senator Bill Blessing (R-Colerain Twp., OH) said Senate Bill 386 would do away with MCOs which act like middlemen in the Medicaid system. That legislation and its companion House Bill (HB) 780 would move Ohio to an Administrative Services Organization (ASO). Sen. Blessing said it’s similar to the system in Connecticut.
“Over the course of 13 years, they saved $4 billion,” Sen. Blessing said. “When you have the system of significant administrative overhead, you have a lot of profit in the MCO system that is now actually going toward healthcare outcomes.”
Sen. Blessing said the legislation routes the cost savings back into the Medicaid program itself. He said it’s modeled after what Ohio did a few years ago with pharmacy benefit managers.
The sponsor of HB 780, Representative Karen Brownlee (D-Symmes Twp., OH), said Ohio could save more than Connecticut.
Read the full article in the Statehouse News Bureau.
Trump Signs Order to Speed Review of Psychedelics, Including the Controversial Drug Ibogaine
Source: The Associated Press
President Donald Trump recently directed his administration to speed up reviews of certain psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine, which recently has been embraced by combat veterans and conservative lawmakers despite having serious safety risks.
Ibogaine and other psychedelics remain banned under the federal government’s most restrictive category for illegal, high-risk drugs. But the administration is taking steps to ease restrictions and spur research on using the drugs for medical purposes, including conditions like severe depression.
“Today’s order will ensure that people suffering from debilitating symptoms might finally have a chance to reclaim their lives and lead a happier life,” President Trump said as he signed an executive order on the drugs. The Republican president said his directive will help “dramatically accelerate” access to potential treatments. “If these turn out to be as good as people are saying, it’s going to have a tremendous impact,” he said.
Read the full article in The Associated Press.