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.
AAFP Speak Out Opportunities
Source: The American Academy of Family Physicians
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) is asking members to join its efforts and have initiated the following Speak Out opportunities to allow you an efficient way to contact your representatives:
- Tell Your Governor to Apply Pressure to Congress on Medicaid
To protect Medicaid and ensure that patients can continue to afford and receive the care they need, please take a few moments to contact your Governor and express concern about potential cuts to Medicaid funding in your state.
- Tell Congress to Protect Medicaid
Family physicians are on the front lines of healthcare, providing essential services to patients of all backgrounds and demographics, many of whom are covered by Medicaid. The AAFP is deeply concerned about proposals to potentially cut Medicaid funding, which could have devastating effects on patients and communities.
- Express Concern with Congress over Recent HHS Layoffs
A recent Executive Order issued by the Trump Administration directed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to lay off thousands of federal workers responsible for carrying out the mission and functions of the department. HHS supports essential public health initiatives, provides vital services, and ensures the safety and well-being of our communities. A fully staffed and adequately resourced health department is crucial for managing public health challenges, delivering care and coverage to individuals, and ensuring effective responses to ongoing and future health issues.
- Urge Congress to Prioritize Family Medicine in Funding Package
Congress has until Friday, March 14, to pass a funding package that addresses critical issues affecting family medicine and family medicine patients. This Speak Out urges members of Congress to include relief to offset the 2.8% cut to Medicare physician payment, ensure adequate funding for the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program, and make certain COVID-era telehealth flexibilities permanent.
February Issue of AAFP’s Family Medicine Advocacy Rounds
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has released its February issue of Family Medicine Advocacy Rounds, a monthly tip sheet to educate, engage, and update you on the latest policy issues affecting family physicians and their patients.
- Family Physicians Visit Capitol Hill to Improve Investment in Primary Care
- The AAFP Shares Recommendations for 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
- AAFP Leader Testifies on Family Physicians’ Role in Health and Wellness
- Third Annual Primary Care Scorecard Explores Consequences of Lack of Investment
- New AAFP Study: Family Physicians and Primary Care Are Ready for AI but Have Some Concerns
- AAFP Weighs in on Graduate Medical Education Reform.
The States That Would be the Hardest Hit by Medicaid Cuts
Source: Julie Harrison, AAFP Senior Manager, Center for State Policy
Almost 11 million people would become uninsured if Medicaid expansion states can’t fulfill spending obligations left by potential federal Medicaid cuts, according to a February 24 analysis from the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicaid expansion states receive additional funding called the enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (enhanced FMAP). Eliminating the enhanced FMAP has been floated by some federal lawmakers to reduce government spending.
If the enhanced FMAP ends, states would need to collectively find $44.3 billion in lost federal funding for 2025, which equates to an average spending increase of 25.6% for each state that expanded Medicaid.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, launched under President Donald Trump, is ramping up its efforts to crack down on federal healthcare spending. The department is zeroing in on what it sees as wasteful expenses at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), potentially leading to Medicaid cuts or changes such as work requirements, stricter eligibility, or funding caps.
On February 25, House Republicans passed a budget resolution that orders the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid, to find $880 billion in savings from fiscal years from 2025-34. The budget resolution does not specify how the committee must cut costs by $880 billion, but Medicare and Medicaid are by far the largest programs under its oversight.
- North Dakota: 46.9%
- Indiana: 39.7%
- Montana: 36.2%
- Nebraska: 33.5%
- Oregon: 33.1%
- Colorado: 31.5%
- Washington: 31.0%
- New York: 30.9%
- California: 29.4%
- Louisiana: 29.3%
- Virginia: 29.2%
- New Mexico: 28.7%
- Rhode Island: 27.5%
- North Carolina: 27.5%
- Arizona: 26.4%
- Kentucky: 26.4%
- Maryland: 25.3%
- New Hampshire: 25.1%
- Hawaii: 25.0%
- New Jersey: 24.5%
- Oklahoma: 24.5%
- Illinois: 24.5%
- Connecticut: 23.5%
- South Dakota: 23.5%
- Pennsylvania: 23.2%
- Idaho: 23.1%
- Delaware: 22.6%
- Michigan: 21.6%
- West Virginia: 21.3%
- Ohio: 21.0%
- Iowa: 20.2%
- Nevada: 19.4%
- District of Columbia: 18.7%
- Minnesota: 17.6%
- Utah: 17.0%
- Alaska: 16.8%
- Missouri: 15.4%
- Arkansas: 14.3%
- Maine: 11.7%
- Massachusetts: 10.7%
- Vermont: 10.1%
- New York: 195.1%
- District of Columbia: 141.9%
- Kentucky: 104.3%
- Michigan: 99.6%
- Pennsylvania: 96.9%
- West Virginia: 96.7%
- Iowa: 93.2%
- Louisiana: 89.5%
- New Mexico: 87.6%
- Arkansas: 78.8%
- Massachusetts: 78.2%
- Montana: 76.6%
- California: 74.5%
- Ohio: 74.4%
- Indiana: 74.2%
- Rhode Island: 74.2%
- Oregon: 72.0%
- Connecticut: 71.5%
- Delaware: 58.6%
- New Jersey: 51.4%
- Washington: 51.2%
- Colorado: 49.7%
- Arizona: 48.5%
- Maryland: 47.4%
- Minnesota: 44.2%
- Virginia: 44.0%
- Maine: 42.1%
- Hawaii: 41.7%
- Nevada: 37.9%
- Nebraska: 36.3%
- Illinois: 35.7%
- Oklahoma: 35.0%
- Idaho: 34.6%
- North Dakota: 33.9%
- Vermont: 33.6%
- North Carolina: 33.5%
- Missouri: 32.0%
- Utah: 28.4%
- Alaska: 28.2%
- South Dakota: 25.5%
New AMA Prior Authorization Survey Release and Resources
Source: Julie Harrison, AAFP Senior Manager, Center for State Policy
The American Medical Association (AMA) recently released its annual Prior Authorization (PA) Physician Survey. Not surprisingly, the data shows that the harm and burden associated with prior authorization requirements continue to negatively impact patients, physicians, and the healthcare system.
- Press release on the 2024 AMA PA Physician Survey
- Survey data
- Updated issue brief with key asks for policymakers
- Updated issue brief on recent CMS rules on prior authorization and opportunities for states to align or improve upon those reforms
- Updated list of resources to combat misconceptions about of prior authorization
- Other resources and stories found online.
Ohio Senate Passes Overhaul of Recreational Cannabis Law
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
A bill approved 23-9 by the Ohio Senate recently would significantly overhaul a citizen-initiated statute that 57% of voters approved in 2023 to legalize recreational cannabis in Ohio.
Senate Bill 56, passed along party lines, now heads to the Ohio House for further consideration.
If passed by the legislature and signed into law, the bill would enact the first legislative changes to Ohio’s recreational cannabis framework since it was passed via November 2023’s Issue 2.
- Reducing the maximum THC content in cannabis extracts from 90% to 70%
- Limiting the THC content for edibles to 10 milligrams per serving and 100 milligrams per package
- Reducing the maximum number of home-grown marijuana plants in a single residence from 12 to six
- Prohibiting any non-sanctioned transfer of cannabis between two people regardless of age
- Requiring recreational marijuana to be stored in its original packaging
- Prohibiting the possession of marijuana purchased out-of-state
- Eliminating Issue 2’s Cannabis Social Equity and Jobs Program, which would have provided financial assistance and marijuana license application support to individuals adversely impacted by the enforcement of marijuana-related laws
- Allowing for the expungement of marijuana-related convictions that were made legal under Issue 2.