AOF encourages Ohio's legislative leaders to invest in Ohio’s workforce, families and community services to ensure all Ohioans recover successfully from the economic and public health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Provisions in the rule could lead to a reduction in Medicaid benefits and eligibility, limit access to COVID-19 vaccines and generally, contradict the intent of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act—to make sure Medicaid enrollees can access the services they need to stay healthy during this pandemic.

In a report released by the Ohio Department of Health, the state reported that 929 babies died before their first birthday in 2019, down from 938 a year earlier. This marks the third year in a row that infant mortality dropped in Ohio.

The Reinstatement Fee Debt Reduction and Amnesty Program is a permanent program within the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) intended to assist people who cannot afford to pay all their pending reinstatement fees following a driver’s license suspension.

Earlier this week our partners at the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio and the Universal Health Care Action Network (UHCAN) Ohio released an issue brief highlighting the challenges individuals who lack legal status face in accessing care and health services and offer recommendations for bridging these gaps in support of public health for everyone.

DRO recently released a policy paper discussing how police use-of-force has disproportionately impacted people with disabilities, often leading to death, and how law enforcement in schools targets students with disabilities, leading to exclusion from their schools and referral to the juvenile justice system.

Forty-nine organizations and four individuals have joined together to form the Ohio Home-and Community-Based Services Coalition (OHCBSC). The coalition includes members from across the HCBS system, including providers and non-profits, and is led by well-known advocates and AOF members Disability Rights Ohio, Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Ohio Statewide Independent Living Council, Ohio Council for Home Care and Hospice as well as the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council.

Earlier this week AOF and a number of partner organizations testified on behalf of House Bill 13 in the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee. House Bill 13 creates the Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program to provide $20 million in grant money for internet service providers to build critical infrastructure needed to connect Ohioans who do not have access to broadband.

Earlier this week AOF submitted testimony in support of companion bills House Bill 482 and Senate Bill 263 in House Health and Senate Finance Committees respectively.

As COVID-19 cases surge in Ohio and across the United States, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer offered some hope earlier this week by announcing that early data suggests its COVID-19 vaccine candidate could be 90% effective. Initially, medical experts predicted a coronavirus vaccine could be 50-60% effective. Comparatively, flu shots are believed to be 40-60% effective.

ODM seeks to contract for comprehensive and highly coordinated behavioral health services provided by a specialized MCO experienced in and dedicated to serving the unique needs of this population.

On Friday October 23rd, Governor DeWine announced $426 million in federal CARES Act dollar awards to small businesses, hospitals and other organizations affected by the pandemic. T

Last weekend a federal judge struck down an already temporarily suspended Trump administration rule that would have reduced food stamp benefits to nearly 700,000 people. The rule was suspended in March due to the pandemic.

Ohio plans to roll out a coronavirus vaccine in four phases and give the first doses to high-risk health care workers and first responders, according to a draft plan released by the state’s health department and submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for approval. The plan does not offer a timeline for each phase.

This week, the Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging (o4a) released a new report, Ohio AAAs at Work: COVID-19 Report, describing the innovative ways Ohio’s Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) leveraged their expertise and deep community connections to address the growing needs of older adults as the COVID-19  pandemic struck. 

On October 2nd, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex M. Azar II renewed the public health emergency (PHE) declaration set to expire on October 23rd for 90 days.

Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7, 2020. This is the annual opportunity for the close to 1-in-5 Ohioans who are Medicare recipients to evaluate Medicare health and prescription drug plans and make sure they are enrolled in the best plan to meet their needs. This is also the time of year Medicare recipients can change their plans if they find a better fit. Plan selections take effect in January of 2021.

Earlier this week, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) released a Request for Applications (RFA) inviting managed care organizations (MCO) to submit proposals for Ohio’s next generation managed care program supporting more than 90 percent of Ohioans receiving health care services through Medicaid.

Earlier this week in advance of the upcoming end of the federal fiscal year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) that contains provisions intended to ensure kids and families do not go hungry.

AOF Co-Chair and Universal Health Care Action Network (UHCAN)-Ohio Executive Director Steve Wagner had a guest column published in the Columbus Dispatch Friday September 18th discussing the importance of housing stability to a person’s overall health-especially during a pandemic.