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 Supports the REDI Act
Source: American Academy of Family Physicians
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) released a statement of support for the Resident Education Deferred Interest (REDI) Act. The REDI Act, a bi-partisan bill, was recently reintroduced to address the growing physician shortage aiming to make medical education more affordable and ultimately raising healthcare outcomes. The REDI Act would allow medical students to qualify for interest-free deferment on their student loans while participating in a residency program.
In a recent statement, AAFP President Jen Brull, MD, FAAFP, said the REDI Act would “create more financial opportunity for physicians to choose family medicine and other primary care specialties. We are proud to support the REDI Act and know it can improve access to healthcare in rural and underserved communities and will help to address the physician workforce shortage”.
Ohio Appeals Court Tosses out Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender Minors
Source: The Columbus Dispatch
Ohio’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors is unconstitutional and should be tossed out, an appeals court ruled recently.
The three-judge panel on the Tenth District Court of Appeals overturned a decision by a Franklin County judge that allowed the law to take effect last year. The GOP-controlled Legislature voted in early 2024 to override Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of House Bill 68 (HB 68), but advocates quickly sued on behalf of two transgender girls and their families.
“It is difficult to understand why our legislature believes adults are equipped to make decisions about gender-affirming medical care for themselves but not for their minor children,” Judge Carly Edelstein wrote in the decision.
HB 68 prevents doctors from prescribing hormones, puberty blockers, or gender reassignment surgery before patients turn 18. It also bans transgender girls and women from playing on female school sports teams, although the lawsuit didn’t target that piece of it.
The law allows Ohioans younger than 18 who already receive hormones or puberty blockers to continue, as long as doctors determine stopping the prescription would cause harm. It does not ban talk therapy, but mental health providers must get permission from at least one parent or guardian to diagnose and treat gender dysphoria.
Read the full article in The Columbus Dispatch.
Ending Medicaid Expansion Short-Sighted, Former Director Warns
Source: The Blade
Former Governor John Kasich’s healthcare czar warned lawmakers recently that a “kill switch” inserted into the proposed state budget that could end Medicaid expansion covering about 770,000 Ohioans could blow up in the state’s face.
Ohio would sacrifice far more in federal funds than it spends, could see progress it has made against mental illness and opioid addiction undone, and could see healthcare costs skyrocket again if the program is ended, said Greg Moody, who was executive director of the former Republican governor’s Office of Health Transformation.
“It supports work, keeps rural hospitals open, and provides access to much of the state’s mental health and addiction treatment infrastructure,” he told the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee. “The expansion has a small impact on the state share of the budget but brings in billions of federal dollars.”
Governor Mike DeWine’s proposed two-year general fund budget, now in the lap of the House of Representatives, mandates that Ohio end its expansion of Medicaid eligibility should federal support drop even $1 below its current 90% match.
The state expanded eligibility to those earning up to 38% over the federal poverty level in 2014 in partnership with the federal Affordable Care Act.
The Kasich administration determined at the time that the numbers made sense, and Greg Moody argued they still do.
Read the full article in The Blade.
Ohio Legislators Propose Removing Federal Air Quality Rule that Allows Citizens to Sue Over Pollution
Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Ohio Republicans in Congress want to remove an air quality regulation related to the type of recourse people have when it comes to pollution in Ohio .
The air nuisance rule is part of Ohio’s State Implementation Plan under the federal Clean Air Act. It limits the emission of harmful gases and allows citizens to file suits in federal court to enforce the Clean Air Act themselves if they believe a business or other entity has violated the act.
“I’ve introduced a resolution to reverse this bad-faith policy because it hurts Ohioans and does nothing to improve our air quality,” U.S. Senator Jon Husted (R-OH) said about Senate Joint Resolution 29.
Lawmakers say there’s enough recourse available for citizens under private nuisance laws within Ohio’s administrative code, but proponents of the regulation say it’s an added resource to enforce the federal Clean Air Act through federal court.