OHA Advocacy Network

Advocacy Report • Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Budget Testimony Completed in House Human

Services Subcommittee, House Republican

Amendments due Thursday at 6pm

Last week, House Finance Committee’s

Human Services Subcommittee concluded hearing

testimony on HB 119, the biennium budget. OHA

encourages all hospitals to continue to voice their

support for health care provisions in the budget

using the template letter available in the “Take

Action” section at

http://www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/default.htm.

Talking points on the 2008-2009 budgets are also

available to OHA members.

On Tuesday, the subcommittee heard from the

directors of the Department of Mental Health and

Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services. On Wednesday, the subcommittee heard from representatives from the Ohio Rehabilitation

Services Commission and the Department of Mental

Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. On

Thursday and Friday, the subcommittee heard public

testimony from numerous groups from across the state, including hospitals. The following are highlights from some of this week’s testimony:

Hospital Community
John T. Schaeufele, MD, vice president of medical affairs and chief administrative officer of St. Vincent Mercy Children’s Hospital, voiced support for the Medicaid reimbursement update for inpatient hospitals as a way to ensure hospitals can continue serving the most vulnerable patients. He also noted the importance of the budget’s proposed Medicaid expansions to provide care to Ohio’s children, parents, elderly and disabled. In addition, Schaeufele encouraged incentives for chronic care management that leads to better outcomes, wise drug purchasing and drug utilization strategies and enhanced use of technology as part of the longer-term health care solution for Ohio’s Medicaid program.

The budget, as proposed by Gov. Ted Strickland would:

ü provide hospitals with a 3.3 percent Medicaid update starting Jan. 1, 2008, and a 2.9 percent update in 2009.

ü expand Medicaid eligibility, providing health care benefits to:

ü parents earning up to 100 percent of the federal poverty line, covering an additional 25,000 adults who currently lack coverage;

ü pregnant women earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line, covering an additional 3,800 women who currently lack coverage;

ü children in families earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty line, covering an additional 26,000 children who currently lack coverage;

David Miller, CFO of the Dayton Children’s Medical Center, testified as a representative of the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association. He requested the continuation of a Medicaid supplemental payment to children’s hospitals, funding not currently included in the budget. He stated children’s hospitals are willing to forego the inflationary update they would receive under the current budget language if supplemental payment are restored.

Ohio Department of Mental Health

Acting ODMH director Don Anderson spoke to the subcommittee on the department’s greatest challenge over the next biennium, increased costs for the state’s five mental hospitals. “The Community and Hospital Mental Health Services line item is the single most crucial funding source for Ohio’s locally managed and community-based mental health service inpatient delivery system,” the director said. He also testified in support of the Governor’s $5 million proposal in SFY 09 to create the System Reform line item “to respond to critical needs in the behavioral health system.

The full House Finance Committee will hear additional testimony this week. OHA is pursuing amendments to HB 119, asking for increased Medicaid payment rates for trauma services, critical access hospitals, rural obstetrics and gynecology services, and physicians. The deadline for legislators submitting amendments for inclusion in the next version of the budget bill is Thursday April 19 at 6:00p.m. (Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org; Jeff Klingler, jeffk@ohanet.org)

Testimony this week on 24/7 Bill

Senate Bill 120 is scheduled for a hearing this Wednesday in Senate Health, Human Services & Aging Committee. The committee will hear testimony from sponsor Sen. David Goodman (R-Columbus) and proponents of the legislation which would require hospitals to operate 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week emergency departments and maintain Medicaid and Medicare provider agreements.

Hospitals are concerned with the influx of limited-service specialty hospitals since a federal moratorium on these facilities, enacted in late 2003, expired in August 2006. The moratorium temporarily held off the growing threat, but more of limited-service specialty hospitals are now being opened and planned across the state.

OHA is coordinating testimony for Wednesday’s hearing, and is working to educate committee members on the importance of this issue to their community hospitals. (Reed Fraley, reedf@ohanet.org; Bridget Gargan, bridgetg@ohanet.org)

Not a Member of the Advocacy Network?

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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)

Visit us on the Web at: www.ohanet.org

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)