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Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Analysis: Proposed Ohio child tax credit has $740M benefit
Mar. 3—Gov. Mike DeWine's newly proposed Ohio child tax credit program could create $740 million in net economic benefits to the state each year, according to a new economic projection from the group Scioto Analysis. As proposed, the program would grant Ohio families up to $1,000 in refundable tax credits per child under seven years old. The actual value of the credit is tied to a tax filer's income. According to the legislature's nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission, the credit would only be available to individual filers making below $69,000 and joint filers making below $94,000 each year. State documents show an expected cost of $910 million to fund the credits over the next two fiscal years, if it were to be approved by the legislature as written. "Using previous literature on the relationship between tax credits and outcomes for households," Scioto Analysis projects this would lead to a net benefit of $740 million per year for the Ohio economy. The group also estimates the program could lead to $500 million in higher future earnings and $190 million in reduced costs associated with future crime for children receiving the credit. "There is a robust body of research that shows how investments made in early childhood are beneficial both to the families who receive them and the broader community" said Scioto Analysis Principal Rob Moore. "Children who grow up with access to more resources have an easier time in the short term, which often translates to better wage, health, and criminal justice system involvement outcomes later in life." On an individual basis, Scioto Analysis said the credit applied to a single parent making just over $58,000 a year could get about $560 worth of tax credits per qualifying child. DeWine pitched the plan as a way to help families with their rent, mortgage or child care expenses, which have grown significantly more burdensome across the board in recent years. About half of Ohioans and parents with young children rate their financial situation as only fair or poor, according to polling done by Groundwork Ohio, an advocacy group focused on young children. "More than one third of parents with children under five report serious problems with paying their rent or their mortgage," said Lynanne Gutierrez, president and CEO of Groundwork Ohio. Groundwork Ohio also found 82% of parents with young children have had to cut back on groceries due to inflation. "One in five young children live in poverty, and one in 10 live in extreme poverty," Gutierrez said. Families have many different expenses, so the child tax credit could help alleviate some of the financial burdens on families, she said, such as food, housing and/or child care. This is also an initiative that has support from both Republicans and Democrats, she said. "Our polling really showed that there's a lot of bipartisan support for action on the child tax credit," Gutierrez said. About 84% of Ohio voters support a child tax credit, according to Groundwork Ohio's polling. Voters who approve of a child tax credit include 83% of Republicans, 78% of Independents and 94% of Democrats. "That support only grows in the poll to 87% when voters learn that both President (Donald) Trump and (former President Joe) Biden have backed expanding the child tax credit," Gutierrez said. ------ For more stories like this, sign up for our Ohio Politics newsletter. It's free, curated, and delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday evening. Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Area lawmaker pushes biomarker insurance mandate for third time
Feb. 21—State Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering, is hoping the third time's the charm on her effort to require private insurers to cover "biomarker" medical testing and thereby improve health outcomes in Ohio and cut down on personal medical costs. Biomarker testing, in layman's terms, is the beginning of a treatment pathway meant to get people on the most effective treatment as soon as possible. In an interview, White told this outlet that biomarker tests look for certain "markers" or mutations within the body's cells, blood or tissue that have been linked with serious diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and more. From there, White explained, medical professionals can match a person's biomarkers with a treatment option with the best efficacy rate best suited for that person's specific biomarkers. Within cancer care alone, there are nearly 80 biomarker-specific treatments. According to The American Cancer Network, biomarkers can also also indicate whether a person's cancer is likely to spread, whether treatments are working, whether a person has high risk for certain cancers, or whether a person's cancer may return. "We know now — there is so much evidence — that access to biomarker testing is not only saving lives and extending lives, but it is also saving a considerable amount of money because patients aren't getting unnecessary treatment or getting unnecessarily sick from the wrong treatment at the wrong time," White said. The bill White's House Bill 8 would require private insurers, and Ohio's Medicaid program, to "cover medically necessary biomarker testing for specified purposes when need for the test is supported by medical or scientific evidence," according to the legislature's nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission. White said the bill looks to create a uniform mandate for Ohioans. Some private insurers, she said, cover the single-gene testing while others cover full-panel testing. "What we find is a patchwork of inconsistent coverage across the state," she said. "We have had numerous patients write in or come in and testify that, basically, their insurance company denied them access to pay for the biomarker testing when, in fact, the physicians are saying 'You must have this test in order for us to proceed with treatment.'" Leo Almeida, director of government relations in Ohio for the American Cancer Society, told this outlet that insurance companies pay an average of $224 per biomarker test. That same test for someone uninsured or uncovered can cost patients thousands of dollars. His organization is a primary supporter of H.B. 8. Previous legislation Similar efforts have failed in general assemblies' past. In 2024, White's legislation passed the House 77-to-17 with bipartisan support but ultimately stalled in the Senate. Back then, its most notable opponents included the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and the Ohio Association of Health Plans (OAHP), the latter of which argued that forcing mandates on private insurers was an unnecessary overstep of the government's authority. "It's important to know that health plans are not opposed to biomarker testing; in fact, health plans already cover multiple biomarker tests today," Megan Richwine, director of government relations for OAHP. "However, we are opposed to covering any and all biomarker tests that do not meet a health plan's medical necessity criteria." H.B. 8 awaits further vetting from proponents and opponents alike in the House Health Committee. ------ For more stories like this, sign up for our Ohio Politics newsletter. It's free, curated, and delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday evening. Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
