Latest news with #HealthPolicyInstituteofOhio
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ohio public health one of the worst funded in the country, faces further cuts in state budget
() A new analysis of state public health systems shows Ohio's has some of the worst funding support in the nation, and that funding could go down even more in the newest state budget. Using 2021 data from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center, the Health Policy Institute of Ohio found that the state spent $24 per person on public health, 'far less than most other states.' 'Overall, Ohio's investment in public health is lower than many other states at both the state and local levels,' the institute stated. According to the data, only 12 states are worse than Ohio for state public health funding, with the worst being Missouri, at $6.54 per person in 2021. The highest ranked was the District of Columbia, at $370.56 in per-capita spending that year. Public health involves everything from vaccine awareness and health education to food and water safety. While health outcomes are influenced by clinical care like primary care check-ups, health behaviors and the social, economic, and physical environment make up a bigger part of the health outcome influences, according to policy briefs by the institute. 'Public health workers focus on stopping health problems before they start,' the HPIO stated in a recent policy brief. 'For example, public health workers prevent injuries and deaths by providing parents with information about how to correctly install infant car seats, distributing drug overdose reversal medication and raising awareness of senior fall prevention programs.' Other public health roles include nurses at school-based health centers, restaurant inspectors, public assistance program nutritionists, epidemiologists who look at health trends like infant mortality, and workers who conduct home visits as part of the Help Me Grow program. That program, along with infant vitality programs are portions of the state budget that may see cuts, even as public health advocates ask the state to support the sector more than it already does. In the Ohio House's version of the state budget, $22.5 million would be cut from the Help Me Grow program in fiscal year 2027, representing a 26% reduction. Infant vitality programs would see cuts of more than $2 million each in 2026 and 2027, a nearly 10% cut. The programs, both housed under the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, are still awaiting final numbers, as the Ohio Senate takes up its budget discussions. A final draft will then be developed by both chambers, before it's sent to the governor by July 1. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The House version of the budget leaves local health department support unchanged, with that support set at the same $2.379 million the line item received in 2024 and this year. State funding for infectious disease prevention and control within the Ohio Department of Health will also receive relatively the same amount of funding as it received in 2024, though the House version drops the budget slightly from the estimated 2025 funding. The 2025 estimate by the state has funding at $5.2 million, and the House set funding for 2026 and 2027 at $4.9 million per year. In Ohio, 2023 annual financial reports from the Ohio Department of Health and the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners showed 72% of local health department revenue comes from the local level, including local government funds, public health levies in some areas and fees. Federal funding distributed by the state makes up 16% of the revenue, 6% is from other state sources, and 5% comes from direct federal funding to local departments. Local health departments only receive 1% of their revenue via state subsidy, according to the data. The Health Policy Institute's review of 2024 Ohio Department of Health data shows it receives half of its revenue from federal sources, 31% from the state and 19% came from the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With $979 million in state fiscal year 2024, the state used that revenue almost equally across three topics: disease prevention, implementation of the federal Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program, and services related to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, according to an HPIO policy brief on public health basics. These three topics each took 22% to 23% in ODH expenditures. Another 11% went to family and community health services, 6% went to maternal and infant vitality, 5% to administrative services, 4% to 'quality assurance' for long-term care facilities, 4% for public health preparedness information and 2% for 'other family and community health services' passed through local health districts. Public health initiatives yield an average return on investment of $14 for every dollar spent, through improved health outcomes, reduced health care costs and increased productivity, according to the institute's public health analysis. Among other policy recommendations, the instituted urged continued or even increased support for the federal Public Health Infrastructure Grant would be important to 'strengthen the public health workforce, foundational capabilities and data systems through the end of 2027.' The public health sector has faced struggles like high turnover, high burnout rates in existing employees and a lack of adequate pay. 'Consistent delivery of these services across the state depends upon an adequate public health workforce,' the HPIO stated. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Medicaid cuts feared locally: 5 things to know
Apr. 14—Editor's note: Every Sunday Josh Sweigart, editor of investigations and solutions journalism, brings you the top stories from the Dayton Daily News and major stories over the past week you may have missed. Go here to sign up to receive the Weekly Update newsletter and our Morning Briefing delivered to your inbox every morning. Medicaid provides health care to 26% of Ohioans, according to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. With looming prospects of program changes and federal cuts, reporter Samantha Wildow talked to area residents about how the program has impacted their lives. Here are 5 key takeaways from our reporting: 1. State changes: About 61,000 Ohioans could lose their health insurance coverage in 2026 if the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid approves Ohio's proposal for work requirements, according to estimates from the Ohio Department of Medicaid. 2. Medicaid expansion: The larger question is whether federal lawmakers and the Trump administration will curtail Medicaid expansion, which covers 770,000 Ohioans. The president and congressional leaders have said Medicaid will be protected, but experts say ambitious federal spending reduction goals are nearly impossible to meet without impacting Medicaid. — The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce has to find a way to cut the deficit by at least $880 billion over the next decade, but, excluding Medicare, Medicaid accounts for 93% of the funds that committee manages, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 3. State budget: Even a modest reduction in federal Medicaid spending could trigger the end of Medicaid expansion in Ohio under a proposal in the draft state budget that would terminate Medicaid expansion in Ohio if federal funding falls under 90% for that program. That measure was in the state budget draft passed by the Ohio House Wednesday. 4. Area residents: "My life was saved by the citizens of Ohio, and my life was saved by an appropriately compassionate structure of governance," said Karen Jeffers-Tracy, of Fairborn, who went on Medicaid after she had a heart attack. 5. Work requirement: "If we want people to have to earn Medicaid by working, that's only going to work for healthy people," said Bailey Miller, of Middletown, who had to quit working and go on Medicaid on the long journey to diagnose and treat a rare disease.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Child health programs including even pediatric cancer research see cuts in Ohio House budget draft
() From changes to Medicaid to elimination of lead abatement funding, the Ohio House budget proposal concerns many who have championed child wellbeing and improvement of metrics with which Ohio struggles, like infant mortality, as important budget priorities. 'It just felt like they had taken a hacksaw to some of these line-items without real consideration to what they did,' said Kathryn Poe, budget and health researcher for the think tank Policy Matters Ohio. Poe said it seems as though state legislators are taking cues from the federal government are trying to drastically cut spending, but that don't improve the state in the process. 'These cuts at the federal level also feel really haphazard,' Poe said. 'But the state doesn't have the amount of money or time or influence to make these sort of haphazard cuts.' Specifically, Poe sees the elimination of Ohio's Medicaid expansion as a significant change that will create struggles for low-wage workers who count on Medicaid for their health insurance, and who will be prevented from planning for the future without the ability to count on proper health insurance. As Poe put it, 'what do you do when 700,000 people lose their insurance overnight?' The House's version of the budget absorbed a proposal by Gov. Mike DeWine in his executive budget that creates a trigger effect, eliminating Group VIII, or the Medicaid expansion eligibility group, 'if the federal government sets the federal medical assistance percentage below (its current level of) 90%,' according to budget documents. The federal medical assistance percentage (or FMAP) refers to the amount of federal funding the state receives for Medicaid, based on a state's per capita income. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The expansion group is made up of Ohioans ages 19 to 64 who have household incomes of less than 138% of the federal poverty line and aren't eligible in other Medicaid categories. According to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, the Medicaid expansion 'has been a major contributor to Ohio's uninsured rate dropping by half from 14% in 2010 to 7% in 2022.' The group said the expansion has also improved access to care, with data showing a 31% decrease in Ohioans who went without care due to cost from 2013 to 2023. According to the state, the expansion population caseload is projected to be 779,000 Ohioans in fiscal year 2026, and 772,000 in 2027. That would account for more than $13.5 billion in expenditures over the two fiscal years. Without the expansion, workers under the program would be less likely to have insurance, partly because many workers earning less than 138% of the federal poverty line are working jobs where they aren't given enough hours to receive medical benefits, such as entry-level retail jobs or customer service. Citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Health Policy Institute of Ohio said even workers in the skilled trades like electricians and medical assistants could lose benefits, considering the federal poverty level of 138% for a family of three represents an annual income of $36,777. 'It would be a devastating economic loss,' Poe said. 'The answers (for Ohioans who would lose the coverage) are everything from going to the emergency room, to not getting care, to letting that pain in your abdomen go on so long that you have to go to the emergency room anyway.' The budget proposal comes amid attempts by DeWine and the state to apply work requirements to that particular group of Medicaid participants. Not only will it create expensive health decisions, but the ripple effects will extend to the ability to afford groceries or have reliable transportation, according to Poe. Those effects would trickle all the way down to Ohio's children as well, according to advocates. Groundwork Ohio criticized a House measure that would end a requirement that the Medicaid department 'seek approval to provide continuous Medicaid enrollment for Medicaid-eligible children from birth through age three Budget documents say the change could create 'possible service cost savings.' Groundwork called on the legislature to take back the changes, saying nearly 48% of all Ohio children under the age of 6 'depend on Medicaid for health coverage.' 'The program covers about half of all births in the state and thousands of Ohio women rely on Medicaid to ensure a healthy pregnancy and support postpartum recovery,' according to an analysis of budgetary proposals in the House draft. The organization also criticized a provision of the budget that would limit Medicaid coverage for doulas, leaving the coverage for only the six counties with the highest infant mortality rates. The House plan also cuts pediatric cancer research by $5 million and eliminates lead abatement programs within the Ohio Department of Health. Groundwork Ohio noted the lead abatement program as part of their analysis of the budget plan, saying Ohio has 'nearly double the national rate of children with elevated blood lead levels.' 'Even small amounts of lead exposure in early childhood can harm the brain, delaying growth and development, and may cause learning, behavior, speech and other health problems,' the group stated. Advocates have already been publicly critical of the House plan to slash public education funding and drop a child tax credit proposed by DeWine in his budget plan. But adding the Medicaid changes, along with reducing funding in the areas of child development and a $1.5 million cut to 'infant vitality' programming just make things worse, advocates say. 'The House's proposal represents a step backward at a time when we can least afford it,' said Lynanne Gutierrez, president and CEO of Groundwork Ohio, in a statement. 'We urge lawmakers to fully restore these investments and prioritize Ohio's future.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Axios
02-04-2025
- Health
- Axios
Central Ohio counties rank above average for community health
Central Ohio counties have above-average community health conditions compared to the rest of the country and are some of the best in the state, according to 2025 County Health Rankings. Why it matters: Franklin County's above-average health ranking comes from factors like lower rates of preventable hospital stays and significantly higher numbers of primary care physicians. Those factors highlight disparities in health care access when compared to rural counties. How it works: The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute's annual report tracks various health metrics like insurance rates, mammograms, dentists and air pollution. It also highlights social and economic factors like housing, employment and poverty rates. Zoom in: Franklin and surrounding counties all rank above average, with Delaware and Union counties among the healthiest in the entire country. The latter counties are buoyed by high rates of insurance coverage and very low rates of unemployment and poverty. Zoom out: Southern and Appalachian communities struggle in comparison, with counties like Adams and Vinton among the lowest rankings in the nation. For comparison, Franklin County has a 980:1 ratio of residents to primary care physicians. Vinton County's ratio is 6,350:1. Between the lines: The disparity between rural and urban communities is no surprise to Amy Rohling McGee, president of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. She tells Axios that access to health care is the most critical factor to health outcomes, but is still a "big challenge" for many communities. "We know that people who live in rural and Appalachian areas of our state have more challenges with access, especially when it comes to mental health, substance use disorder, dental care and even OB-GYN services." Yes, but: Decisions made at the state level can make a major impact on community health, even in counties currently excelling. "We're doing really well in Franklin County on a number of metrics, yet those could be impacted by policy changes currently being considered," McGee says. One example: Gov. Mike DeWine's proposed state budget could roll back Medicaid expansion established by the Affordable Care Act.
