Latest news with #SenateConcurrentResolution5
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ohio lawmakers ask federal government to approve Medicaid work requirements
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio's Medicaid work requirements could soon change if the federal government gives the state the green light. 'Really, we need to get people back on the field,' Senator Kyle Koehler (R-Springfield) said. Koehler is behind Senate Concurrent Resolution 5. It is a proposal to require Ohioans who are under 55 and 'able bodied' to go back to work if they want to stay on Medicaid. 'We're not trying to push people off Medicaid expansion,' he said. 'We're just trying to ask them to get back on the field and start contributing.' The resolution will go to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), where it will need to gain approval in order for Ohio to put work requirements in place. Koehler said he thinks his proposal is flexible, giving an estimated 61,000 Ohioans the option to work, go to school, or participate in something like a drug dependency program 80 hours a month to stay on the health care plan. The proposal gives Ohioans a year to figure it out. 'It's not a big commitment, it's not a full-time job,' Koehler said. 'That can be getting a job at McDonald's. Learning to show up. Learning to be on time. Learning to work underneath the direction from a manager. Those are the things we want to see happen.' But Representative Derrick Hall (D-Akron) said he thinks this proposal is misguided. He said while he is not against the idea of work requirements, these ones won't help Ohioans get back to work. 'There is no empirical evidence to suggest that,' Hall said. Hall said there are 'multiple holes' to this proposal that state Republicans are not accounting for. 'Some examples would include scenarios around folks who have transportation issues, folks that are our caregivers, folks that have certain mental and physical health conditions,' Hall said. 'Are you going to go out and find this person a better paying job so they can afford better transportation? Are we going to go into rural counties and start passing out bus passes to everybody?' Hall said a year also does not give Ohioans enough time to figure out things like care for a disabled person they may be taking care of, transportation, or even the time to land a job that is sustainable. 'A year may sound like a long time. But folks who live in these circumstances, what I would ask you is what in their circumstances would we expect to change in that year,' he said. 'It isn't an issue of kicking people off Medicaid,' Koehler said. 'It isn't an issue of saving the state dollars. It is an issue of helping people move slowly from being dependent to independent.' But Hall said this proposal risks leaving at least 2% of Ohioans without Medicaid, in turn increasing costs on taxpayers in the long run and leaving those uninsured Ohioans in the lurch. 'To sit here and say that that 98% is good enough, I reject that idea. It's not good enough. This is health care we're talking about here and people's lives are at risk,' Hall said. ''61,000 people may lose health care.' My response is no, 61,000 people who currently aren't working can move back to the workforce and keep the health care they have,' Koehler said. Ohio did get Medicaid work requirements approved by the Trump Administration back in 2019, but those were ultimately put on hold and rescinded by the Biden Administration before going into effect, and in part as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ohio Senate committee asks for Trump support on proposed Medicaid work requirements
Mar. 12—An Ohio Senate committee passed a resolution this week urging President Donald Trump to support Ohio's effort to install a work requirement on certain Medicaid expansion recipients. The legislation comes as Ohio's proposed work requirement waiver is under review from the federal government's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The proposal would generally require Ohio's adult Medicaid beneficiaries under the age of 55 to work a minimum of 20 hours a week and 80 hours a month in order to continue qualifying for their benefits. Some exemptions apply for folks going through job training, higher education and more. If approved, the requirement would give just under 62,000 Ohioans, often referred to as "Group VIII," an ultimatum: Find work, enter into some form of formal training or education, or be kicked off of Medicaid. "These individuals would not be exempt from the work requirements because they are between the ages of 19 and 55, they are not currently working or enrolled in a training program, they do not have intensive physical or mental health needs, and they are not in an alcohol or drug treatment program," said Clark County Sen. Kyle Koehler, R-Springfield, in his sponsor testimony of Senate Concurrent Resolution 5. Koehler framed Medicaid expansion as a stopgap and argued the work requirements would create an incentive for able-bodied beneficiaries to return to the workforce. "We are doing these individuals a disservice by providing health care services without asking them for at least a minimum of 80 hours of employment, education, or job skills training as a condition of continued Medicaid eligibility," Koehler said. On Tuesday, Ohio Department of Medicaid Director Maureen Corcoran told the Senate Medicaid Committee that there's a "misconception that most of the people in Group VIII are truly healthy and able-bodied. That's really not the case." Corcoran explained that Group VIII Ohioans that would be subject to work requirements are overall less healthy than the "otherwise employed commercial population." She said the group is more likely to use behavioral health services, hospitals and pharmaceuticals than the average Ohioan. "That's not to say they're not capable of holding a job, I'm not suggesting that," Corcoran said. "But, I am saying that when we look at the pattern of service utilization ... we know that they're not a truly healthy population in the sense that most of us would view it." Opponents to the legislation, meanwhile, drew on the fact that work requirements could be burdensome to both the state, which would have to administratively verify those 62,000 Ohioans on a yearly basis, and Group VIII recipients that may not qualify for exemptions through no fault of their own. "For people that fall within specific categories, like people receiving unemployment, or people who are experiencing domestic violence or homelessness, verification could be incredibly complicated," said Kathryn Poe, a health and budget researcher at the progressive think tank Policy Matters Ohio. Poe explained that work requirements might also bring problems for folks who are out of work, or merely not working enough to meet Ohio's proposed requirement, due to family emergencies, child care difficulties, sudden illnesses, or inconsistent hours at their job. CMS is currently holding a public comment period on Ohio's request until April 7, according to Corcoran. After, CMS will enter into a review and negotiation period with the state and finish the final conditions before sending out final approval. If approved, Corcoran said Ohioans that fail the work requirements could be kicked off Medicaid starting Jan. 1, 2026. With the committee's party-line approval of the resolution Tuesday, it'll now head to the Senate floor, where it's expected to get support from the chamber's Republican supermajority. It'll then head to the House, whose Republican leader supports work requirements. ------ 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.
