OHA Advocacy Network

Advocacy Report • Friday, April 6, 2007

Budget Testimony Begins in House

Human Services Subcommittee

This week, House Finance Committee’s

Human Services Subcommittee heard testimony

from a number state departments regarding the

effects the governor’s proposed budget will have

on those departments and the Ohioans they serve.

On Tuesday, the subcommittee heard from the

directors of the Department of Aging (ODA), the

Department of Health (ODH), and the

Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation. On

Wednesday and Thursday, the subcommittee

heard from representatives from the

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services

(ODJFS) on the departments various programs,

including Medicaid. The following are highlights

from some of this week’s testimony:

Ohio Department of Health

Acting ODH Director Ann Harnish told the subcommittee that the department’s General Revenue Funding (GRF) represents about 13% of its overall budget, “but the return on that investment when combined with other funding sources is huge.” Under the proposed budget, ODH stands to receive a decrease of GRF of 0.2% for SFY 2008 and 11.9% increase of GRF for SFY 2009. Harnish said the department will focus over the biennium on prevention through the creation of Healthy Ohio, a program that will identify and make use of best practices in prevention throughout state government to improve the management, prioritization and coordination of health prevention programs. The Healthy Ohio program stands to receive $1.5 million for SFY 08 and $2.8 million for SFY 09. She also said that the $19 million increase in funding over the biennium for Help Me Grow program would serve about 6,000 more children. Harnish said other positives in the governor’s budget proposal are $2 million increase over the biennium for the Bureau for Children with Medical Handicaps, which will ensure that no reductions to existing services and caseloads will occur; and a $500,000 increase per year to Federal Qualified Health Centers, commonly referred to as Community Health Centers.

Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation

Testifying in opposition to the Governor’s proposed budget was Michael Renner, executive director of the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation. He raised concerns regarding the governor’s plan to securitize the state tobacco settlement money stating that “If passed, securitization means this is our very last opportunity to obtain tobacco dollars to secure the future of the foundation, and more importantly, the long term future of our battle against the devastation caused by tobacco use.” The Foundation was created using funds Ohio receives from the national settlement with the country’s largest tobacco companies, and it works to help reduce the negative health and financial impact of tobacco use in Ohio. Its mission is to reduce and prevent tobacco use by Ohioans and to be the most effective tobacco-control agency in the U.S., while creating a tobacco-free Ohio.

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services

The subcommittee heard from ODJFS on the current state of Ohio’s Medicaid program and the budget’s Medicaid initiatives. Medicaid Director Cristal Thomas said during this biennium the department was able to contain costs but unfortunately accomplished that by freezing provider rates; increasing consumer cost sharing for certain pharmacy, dental and vision benefits and visits to emergency rooms that were not for emergency care; and reducing coverage for certain optional populations and services. In the upcoming biennium, “Governor Strickland’s budget would increase access to healthcare and make targeted investments in the healthcare infrastructure while keeping the growth in all funds Medicaid spending to 1.2 percent in SFY 2008 and 4.7 percent in SFY 2009.” The governor’s proposed budget would expand Ohio Medicaid to cover all uninsured Ohio children, some through expanding Medicaid eligibility and others through Medicaid buy-in options scaled to fit a family’s ability to pay. The proposal also expands eligibility to uninsured pregnant women, some working parents and the working disabled. Director Thomas also outlined an increase in Medicaid payment rates for certain safety net providers and community providers who haven’t has a rate increase in many years including hospitals, physicians and APNs.

Fred Williams, ODJFS assistant director overseeing the Services to Families Division, outlined Gov. Strickland’s proposal to significantly “increase resources combined with program improvements that will expand access to early care and education services.” Terry Thomas, ODJFS assistant director in charge of the Services to Employers Division, also testified on the governor’s plans to boost workforce development in Ohio by deploying Workforce Investment Act funds.

In public testimony, Col Owens, co-chairman of the Ohio Family Coverage Coalition (of which OHA is a member) testified in support of the Governor’s proposal to restore Medicaid eligibility to parents at 100% of poverty and for preserving the Disability Medical Assistance program.

OHA is coordinating testimony for next Thursday and possibly Friday on hospital implications in the biennium budget. Hospitals can expect to receive materials next week to help members advocate for their hospital. Budget resources for hospitals are also readily available on the State Budget portion of the OHA Web site. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

Ohio Family Coverage Coalition Publication Now Available

The Ohio Family Coverage Coalition (OFCC) has released the publication “Ohio Health Care Safety Net: A description of public and private programs”, a description of public and private programs that will assist you in helping the uninsured tap into the system. The Ohio Hospital Association is a member of OFCC and has copies of this publication available for our member hospitals. To order a copy of this publication, please contact Laura Landis at (614) 221-7614 or laural@ohanet.org.

Newly Created House Healthcare Access & Affordability Committee Meets During Recess

In spite of a legislative Spring recess, members of the House Healthcare Access & Affordability Committee met this week to continue hearing testimony on the state of health care in Ohio and across the country. William Hayes, president of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, spoke on various state health reform efforts and the implications those efforts have in Ohio. William J. Dennis, Jr. with the National Federation of Independent Business/Ohio testified on the challenges of small business owners in providing their employees with health care coverage. Michael A. Morrissey, Ph.D., professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, spoke on the price sensitivity in health care. OHA will be coordinating efforts to present hospital testimony, which is slated for the May 3 hearing. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

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The OHA Advocacy Network is a service of the Ohio Hospital Association, 155 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215-3620, 614-221-7614, 614-221-4771 (fax)

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Direct questions on OHA’s advocacy agenda to:

Bridget Gargan, Vice President, State Policy & Advocacy (bridgetg@ohanet.org)

Jeff Klingler, Director, State Policy & Advocacy (jeffk@ohanet.org)

Jean Scholz, RN, Director, Health Policy (jeans@ohanet.org)

Rick Sites, General Counsel (ricks@ohanet.org)

Stacey Conrad, Specialist, State Policy & Advocacy (staceyc@ohanet.org)

Jonathan Archey, Manager, Federal Relations (jonathana@ohanet.org)

Laura Landis, Executive Assistant, State Policy & Advocacy (laural@ohanet.org)