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.
Request for Physician Feedback
The State Medical Board of Ohio seeks public input on proposed amendments to rules regulating physician assistants as well as physician-delegated prescriptive authority. Deadline for comment is Friday, September 4.
Review the proposed amendments and send comments to Kimberly Anderson at the State Medical Board of Ohio.
Nearly Half of Ohio Counties Lack Labor and Delivery Services, March of Dimes Report Finds
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Nearly half of Ohio’s 88 counties do not have a hospital or birth center that offers labor and delivery services, according to a new March of Dimes report (Source: 43% of Ohio Counties Lack Labor and Delivery Services for Pregnant Women, Report Says, Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 17).
The report found that in 43.2% of counties, pregnant women often have to travel farther for care. The problem is even more pronounced in rural areas, where 80% of counties have no labor and delivery facility.
The report from the nonprofit organization also found that one in five Ohio counties are considered maternity care deserts, where local access to prenatal, postpartum, and maternal health services is limited, affecting roughly 78,000 women and 5,000 births in the state annually.
Medicaid Changes to Reduce Payments for Hospital Services in at Least 37 States, Including Ohio
Source: Ohio Capital Journal
The limits imposed as part of the 2025 federal congressional budget reconciliation bill, championed by President Donald Trump as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, may mean billions less in federal funding and state-directed payments, which could include devastating effects, especially to rural and financially struggling hospitals.
The healthcare research group KFF released a new analysis estimating $60 billion in current federal spending for hospitals could be reduced when new limits from the reconciliation bill take full effect.
That number is a moving goalpost, as the changes aren’t all being implemented at the same time.
“It does not represent the amount by which federal payments would be reduced in any given year, since these limits will be phased in over time starting in January 2028, and will fully take effect at different times in different states,” KFF wrote in the analysis.
Read the full article in Ohio Capital Journal.