After over two years of preparing to carve new behavioral health benefits into Medicaid managed care plans and recode all Medicaid behavioral health services to align with national coding standards, the Ohio Departments of Medicaid (ODM) and Mental Health and Addiction Services (ODMHAS) had announced they were ready to go live with the Behavioral Health...
Cuyahoga County HHSA Committee Approves Contracts Aimed at Reducing Teen Pregnancy
On June 21, 2017, the Cuyahoga County Health and Human Service and Aging Committee approved a contract extension request from the Cuyahoga County Family and Children First Council for ongoing programming aimed at reducing teen pregnancy. The contracts, with Beech Brook and Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio for $10,000 and $20,000, respectively, will be extended...
How Senate-Passed Version of State Budget Alters House HOPES Plan to Address the Opioid Crisis
When the Ohio House of Representatives passed its version of the state budget (H.B. 49) in early May, the bill featured a $170.6 million investment toward combatting Ohio’s opioid crisis through a plan titled Ohio HOPES (Heroin, Opioids, Prevention, Education, and Safety). The House’s HOPES plan targeted funding toward four broad areas: $9 million for...
Ohio Senate Medicaid Provisions Could Jeopardize Self-Reliance
Changes to the Medicaid program included in the Senate version of Ohio’s biennial budget would make it more difficult for some Ohio families to move toward self-sufficiency. By grandfathering individuals who are enrolled in Medicaid expansion at the end of the next fiscal year and closing all future enrollment in Group VIII (expansion), the Senate...
Managed Long-Term Services and Supports Second Workgroup Meeting: What’s to Come?
On Tuesday, May 30, 2017, the Department of Medicaid, with the assistance of the Department of Aging, convened a workgroup meeting for the implementation of the Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) program. The meeting was the second time the workgroup convened and was used to update stakeholders on the current endeavors in preparation of...