The Ohio Department of Health released the 2015 Ohio Drug Overdose Data in August. The data clearly show an increase in deaths from heroin and fentanyl at unprecedented rates. The administration highlighted the progress that is being made from policies and practices implemented in the past four years, namely the reduction in prescription opioids dispensed...
Year: 2016
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The Gift of the MAGI?
Medicaid is big and complicated. As I have written about before, the intertangled state and federal monies, processes, and policies that comprise the Medicaid program vary greatly from state to state and, as the saying goes, if you’ve seen one state Medicaid program, you’ve seen one state Medicaid program. With that said, Medicaid occupies a...
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Food Insecurity, Autism Discussed at Final HHSA Meeting
In what was probably the final meeting for the year of the Cuyahoga County Council Health, Human Services and Aging (HHSA) Committee, the committee heard a presentation from David Merriman, administrator of the Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services, and Bob Math, Department of Health and Human Services contracting office. The five members of the...
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Cuyahoga County HHSA Committee Features Content-rich October and November Meetings
The Cuyahoga County Health, Human Services and Aging Committee has been very busy the past few weeks, hearing on a variety of issues related to reducing youth homelessness, as well as presentations from the Cuyahoga County Office of Developmental Disabilities and the Cuyahoga County Department of Health. October 19, 2016 At the October 19, 2016...
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The Results Are In! Community Solutions’ 2016 Audience Survey
Every year, The Center for Community Solutions surveys our audience to find out what they think are the most pressing issues facing Ohio, and to get a sense of areas of strength and opportunities for improvement in our work. The 2016 online survey was conducted over the course of three weeks in September and October. ...
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Neighborhoods to Watch, For Better or Worse
In this blog, I’ll share some of the neighborhood that stood out to me as I explored the data in the neighborhood profiles. For some highlights from the data, check out my blog from earlier in the week. Click here to view the Cleveland Neighborhood Profiles. The Central Neighborhood Struggle There are neighborhoods in Cleveland that...
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JMOC: Setting the Rate
In September, the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC) met to discuss the preliminary report from the JMOC actuary, Optumas. During that meeting, Optumas laid out the basic process for determining the JMOC per member per month (PMPM) growth rate, and there was a review of the statutory obligations of JMOC when setting said rate. To...
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Cleveland Neighborhood Profiles: Highlights from the Data
This week, Community Solutions released profiles for each of Cleveland’s neighborhoods. Check out the profiles here. In this blog, I’ll share some of the highlights found in the data. Look out for another blog later in the week where I will call attention to some neighborhoods to watch, for better or worse. Demographics Cleveland’s neighborhoods...
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Prevention in Ohio: Examining Ohio’s Efforts to Curb the State’s Drug Epidemic through Prevention Education
In August, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office announced[1] the formation of a study committee to examine drug use prevention education in Ohio schools. The committee consists of members from both the Ohio House and the Ohio Senate in addition to numerous educators, members of the law enforcement community, state agencies, and organizations that focus on...
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HHSA Committee Approves Contract Extension with FrontLine for Transitional Housing Program
The October 5, 2016, Cuyahoga County Health, Human Services and Aging meeting was one of the shortest committee meetings in recent memory, as there was only one item on the agenda. However, that one item was important. Over the past two years, the county executive has taken a very aggressive stance on workforce development and...