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
- 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.
Ohio House-Introduced Cannabis Bill Offers Fewer Changes Than Senate Version
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
An Ohio House GOP lawmaker has introduced his own set of changes to cannabis law, just a week after the Senate sent over an overhaul of the state’s adult-use program along party lines.
House Bill (HB) 160, introduced by Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville, OH) and awaiting committee assignment, addresses both the existing medical and recreational programs as well as delta-8 THC and other similar products. The latter have gone unregulated by the state for years, but lawmakers haven’t coalesced around what to do with them — whether it be an altogether ban, an age restriction, or something in between.
As for already-regulated cannabis, HB 160 includes a public smoking ban but allows for cannabis smoking and combustion on residential privately-owned property, like a person’s front porch. The Senate version, Senate Bill (SB) 56, limits Ohioans to partaking inside private residences. It also leaves home grow alone, maintaining a 12-plant maximum per household.
Both bills limit how concentrated dispensaries’ THC products can be, maxing out at 35% for plants and 70% for concentrates and extracts, although the Ohio Department of Commerce could raise or lower that figure.
HB 160, like the latest version of SB 56, also leaves the excise tax at 10%.
Ohio Asks Feds to Approve Medicaid Waiver
Source: The Hill
Ohio has requested the Trump administration reinstate a work requirement for Medicaid expansion beneficiaries in the state.
Ohio previously received federal approval for a similar proposal in 2019, only to have that approval revoked by the Biden administration in 2021. Public comments on the state’s latest request will end in April.
Approving states’ Medicaid work requirements was a major priority of the first Trump Administration, though House Republicans are currently weighing whether to nationalize work requirements, even in blue states.
House Republicans have advanced a budget resolution calling for at least $2 trillion in spending cuts to help pay for President Donald Trump’s agenda. Under the resolution, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, has been tasked with identifying at least $880 billion in cuts to programs under its jurisdiction.
Medicaid work requirements are one of the possibilities being considered, though nothing has been formally proposed.
Under a previously proposed GOP policy, states would lose federal Medicaid funding for able-bodied adults ages 19 to 55 without dependents if those recipients fail to meet the work requirement for three or more months during a calendar year.
Republicans who favor work requirements argue that too many Americans are dependent on Medicaid and other safety net programs and view work requirements as promoting self-sufficiency.
“Reinstating our work requirement will promote self-sufficiency, it will give more people the purpose and pride that comes with a job, and it will improve the well-being of Ohio’s workforce,” Governor Mike DeWine said in a statement.
Under Ohio’s proposal, Medicaid expansion enrollees would need to be at least age 55, or be employed, be enrolled in school or a job training program, be in a recovery program, or have a serious physical or mental health illness to receive benefits.
Ohio expanded Medicaid under former GOP Governor John Kasich to people earning up to 138% of the poverty level. That’s the population being targeted by the new requirements. Many Republicans refer to the Medicaid expansion population as “able-bodied,” a term implying they need less government assistance than the traditional Medicaid population.
Ohio Department of Health Responds to Complaint Over Abortion Drugs Website
Source: Statehouse News Bureau
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) can’t take action against a website offering information about abortion drugs via telehealth, according to that agency’s response to a complaint filed by the Ohio Right to Life (ORTL) last month.
The anti-abortion group wanted ODH to halt the site HeyJane.com for allegedly violating state law for helping women access medication used to induce abortion. A state law banning the prescribing of abortion meds via telehealth was blocked by a Hamilton County judge before it took effect in 2021.
In its response, ODH said the law cited by ORTL is a criminal statute under which the agency is not provided any enforcement authority. ODH continued by saying this matter would be more appropriately directed to the State Medical Board of Ohio and the attorney general. Since voters approved Ohio’s reproductive rights amendment in 2023, opponents of abortion, and Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, have been waging court challenges to keep certain laws involving abortion on the books. ORTL said earlier it had filed a complaint with the medical board
HeyJane.com, which launched in Ohio last month, calls itself a “virtual abortion clinic.” It allows a patient seeking an abortion to consult with a doctor via telehealth and get abortion pills sent to them.
Supporters of the reproductive rights amendment have claimed it would prohibit any action that would limit access to abortion services. When making the complaint, ORTL President Mike Gonidakis disagreed that Ohio voters intended to approve of abortion pills through telemedicine.
“That’s just false because at the end of the day voters approved it, and the language in there did not give a blanket immunity and a destruction of every pro-life law that has been passed,” Mike Gonidakis said.
In a recent written statement, Kiki Freedman, co-founder and CEO of HeyJane, said ORTL’s complaint is an attempt to misinform and mislead Ohioans. She said doctors work with patients during the process and adds the drugs prescribed are safe, effective, and have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for telemedicine.
“It is deeply important to HeyJane that Ohioans have access to accurate, factual information that allows them to make informed decisions about accessing high-quality and safe abortion care,” Kiki Freedman said.
Several abortion-related laws are being challenged in court as no longer constitutional under the 2023 amendment, and most are expected to go to the Ohio Supreme Court. They include the ban on telemedicine to prescribe abortion drugs, the 24-hour waiting period, the requirement of burial or cremation of fetal remains from abortion, and the six-week abortion ban.