The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians advocacy team monitors healthcare related legislation throughout the legislative process. Read on for this week’s updates.
Follow Legislation in Ohio
OAFP Launches Online Bill Tracker
The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) has launched an online Bill Tracker to keep members updated on healthcare legislation in Ohio.
Visit the Bill Tracker to see bill numbers; sponsors; descriptions; and current status within the House/Senate. You can also see if/when the legislation was reviewed by the OAFP Public Policy Committee and OAFP’s official position on each bill.
Statehouse In The News
Save Women’s Sports Act
Source: NEA Consulting’s Ohio Government and Politics Weekly Update,
The latest version of legislation that would prohibit transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports does not provide specific instructions on how schools are supposed to verify the sexes of student-athletes, Representative Jena Powell (R-Arcanum, OH) said recently.
“We recognize that one size doesn’t fit all, so under the bill, individual schools can determine how they best implement this law,” Rep. Powell told Hannah News after the House Higher Education Committee held its first hearing on House Bill (HB) 6.
Rep. Powell’s previous version of the bill would have required student-athletes whose sex is disputed to undergo health examinations, including of their internal and external reproductive anatomy. The Senate removed the anatomy check and added a birth certificate verification instead during the committee process, but eventually removed the birth certificate provision on the floor and sent it back to the House, where it failed to pass in the last General Assembly.
Rep. Powell said 18 other states have enacted the “Save Women’s Sports Act.”
Reproductive Health Rights Amendment Certified by Ohio Ballot Board
On March 13, the Ohio Ballot Board unanimously certified an initiative to protect reproductive health rights including access to abortion up to the point of fetal viability in the state constitution. This action allows citizen-led groups such as Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, and Protect Choice Ohio to start collecting signatures to pose the question before voters in November.
Chairman of the Ohio Ballot Board, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, said the board’s role is to determine whether the initiative proposed one amendment to the state constitution and contained a “fair and truthful statement.”
“I know that there are deeply held beliefs and strong feelings on each side of the issue… but it is not our purpose to have debates on the merits of this constitutional initiative,” Secretary of State LaRose said.
Earlier this month, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office certified the summary of the petition titled “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety.” The amendment would add a Section 22 to Article 1 of the state constitution.
- Every Ohioan has a right to make their own reproductive decisions, including contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage, and abortion
- The State cannot burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with or discriminate against an Ohioan’s decision to exercise their reproductive rights
- Abortion can be prohibited after fetal viability, but it cannot be prohibited if a physician deems the procedure necessary to protect the patient’s life or health
- Fetal viability is defined as the point in a pregnancy when a physician deems the fetus has a “significant likelihood of survival outside the uterus with reasonable measures” and is determined on a case-by-case basis.
Now that the Ohio Ballot Board certified the petition, the petitioners must collect signatures from registered voters and the number must be at least 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election (413,000). The signatures must also represent 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties. In order for a county to be represented, their number must be at least 5% of that county’s votes cast in the last gubernatorial election.
If the petition meets all the requirements and is filed with the Ohio Secretary of State at least 65 days before the election, the proposed amendment will be placed on the ballot for citizens to vote on. Current Ohio law, passed in 2019, bans doctors from performing abortions after cardiac activity can be detected. However, that law is currently inactive due to a court order.
Fiscal Year 2024-25 Budget
Source: NEA Consulting’s Ohio Government and Politics Weekly Update,
In a budget hearing that touched on numerous health and human services topics, witnesses agreed on the importance of enacting Governor Mike DeWine’s proposal for a new Department of Children and Youth to unify efforts now spread over several state agencies. “Having various programs that serve the same families under the same leadership will help coordinate these efforts and investments in a way not currently possible today,” said Joel Potts, director of the Ohio Job and Family Services Directors Association, in testimony to the House Finance Health and Human Services (HFHHS) Subcommittee on House Bill (HB) 33. The hearing opened with an overview of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) budget proposal from Director Matt Damschroder.
Direct care rate increases proposed by the DeWine administration are laudable but insufficient, advocates for home- and community-based services told the HFHHS subcommittee. Meanwhile, nursing facility representatives urged lawmakers to move forward with lame duck intent language resulting from last year’s payment commission process and to get the ball rolling before Gov. DeWine’s new quality task force delivers its report. “Our request is simple. We are desperately seeking needed rate increases for home- and community-based services,” said Lisa Van Lehmden Zidek, board chair of the Ohio Council for Home Care & Hospice (OCHCH), in testimony on HB 33. “Our industry and association members face large waiting lists for services and workforce shortages. Ultimately, the worst-case scenario is patients’ losing all access to home care services as agencies simply cease providing fiscally unsustainable care for Medicaid patients. Unfortunately, we have seen agencies already taking this route, with more agencies considering this option. This forces Ohioans to either go without care or forced into more expensive care settings,” she said.
Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) Director Lori Criss and other behavioral health advocates discussed priorities for the FY24-25 state budget in HB 33, lauding what they called a “historic investment” in mental health while acknowledging substantial challenges such as an uptick in demand for services and workforce issues. Director Criss told the HFHHS subcommittee, “The spotlight on mental illness and addiction has never been as bright as it is now,” highlighting that Gov. DeWine has made a priority of addressing the issues. The subcommittee also heard from a number of other industry experts who presented as a panel, including Teresa Lampl of the Ohio Council of Behavioral Health and Family Services Providers; Cheri Walter with the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities; Luke Russell with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) – Ohio; and Tony Coder of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.
Legislative Report Estimates Universal Voucher “Backpack Bill” will Cost Ohio more than $1 Billion
Source: Statehouse News Bureau
It’s estimated a bill to provide school vouchers to any student who wants them will cost the state of Ohio more than a billion dollars. That estimate on the so-called Backpack Bill comes from the nonpartisan researchers who analyze bills for state lawmakers.
The Legislative Service Commission fiscal note said under House Bill 11, expenditures would increase $1.13 billion in the first year if all 185,400 students already paying for private schools, for nonchartered nonpublic schools and those being homeschooled ask for vouchers.
Read the full article online.
Some Say Senate Bill to “Fix” Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Program would be Recipe for Disaster
Source: Statehouse News Bureau
Ohio’s medical marijuana program has been the subject of complaints by some Ohioans since it was created. Critics have said it’s complicated, the products are too expensive, there were too few dispensaries, and the program didn’t cover enough conditions.
But lawmakers find themselves in a tricky spot over how to change it to make it more patient friendly, and perhaps stave off a potential ballot measure that could ultimately end up legalizing marijuana sales to anyone 21 years old or over. A group that wants to allow marijuana to be regulated like alcohol is poised to collect signatures to put the issue before voters this November.
Read the full article online.
Attorney General
Human Trafficking
Source: NEA Consulting’s Ohio Government and Politics Weekly Update,
Ohio Attorney General (AG) Dave Yost is opening two fronts in the battle against human trafficking. As president of the National Association of Attorneys General, he is leading a petition urging Congress to force the federally funded Polaris Project to refer National Human Trafficking Hotline tips to state and local law enforcement in keeping with its charter.
The AG also is partnering with the Mt. Carmel Health System to train physicians and other healthcare professionals to identify trafficking survivors.
AAFP Federal Advocacy – Take Action!
Urge Congress to Support the FTC’s Proposed Rule Banning Noncompete Clauses
We’ve long heard from family physicians like you that noncompete clauses are detrimental to your practice and your patients. Now, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a rule to ban noncompete clauses in employment agreements. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) strongly supports the FTC’s effort, but we need your voice to urge Congress to support the rule!
Noncompete agreements in health care can impede patient access to care and disrupt care continuity, deter clinicians from advocating for patient and workplace safety, limit physicians’ ability to choose their employer, exacerbate burnout, and stifle competition. Despite well-documented physician shortages, many health care employers still intentionally restrict physician mobility and workforce participation via noncompete agreements.
Your lawmakers need to hear from family physicians like you. Speak Out today and urge Congress to support the FTC’s proposed rule to ban noncompete clauses in physician employment contracts!