Drug overdoses are on the rise again. Local information and data from 2019 tracked by media outlets combined with early 2020 indicators show that overdoses are moving in the wrong direction. This is especially concerning after the state saw a decline, across Ohio, in overdoses in 2018. Data reported by county coroners from around the...
Since early April, The Center for Community Solutions partnered with Advocates for Ohio’s Future to host Friday webinars about how health and human services have been impacted by COVID-19. A range of leaders at the federal, state and local levels shared how the safety net has responded to help Ohioans in need during the dual...
On July 20, the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) released guidance for state agencies, boards and commissions to develop their budgets for fiscal years (FY) 2022 and 2023. Developing the state budget isn’t just about funding, it also outlines policy priorities, something that is going to be particularly crucial to watch this cycle...
Earlier this spring, Governor Mike DeWine announced that the state faces a roughly $775 million shortfall in its budget for fiscal year 2020 – which ends on June 30, 2020. The governor requested each agency look for cuts of up to 20 percent for fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2021.[1] Federal funding associated with...
The Ohio Senate and House swiftly gathered and passed emergency coronavirus legislation (HB197) earlier this week. The bill addressed a wide-ranging set of issues that needed attention in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every element of the bill is effective immediately upon the governor’s signing, unlike most pieces of legislation that go into effect 90...
Drug overdose deaths in Ohio declined in 2018 to a three-year low of 3,764. This comes after a year (2017) where the state saw its highest ever number (4,854) of overdose deaths. This updated information was released by the Ohio Department of Health in early December, much later in the year than it has traditionally...
Yesterday, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) released a 13-page end-of-year report that detailed myriad issues across the health care program. Being the big, complex program that it is, when issues arise, they’re big and complex too. Here’s our first take as we dive into this. Readers should be fully prepared to read more about...
In mid-November, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) released a long-awaited comprehensive report on maternal mortality in Ohio. The report shows that there were 610 pregnancy-associated deaths, of which 186 were pregnancy-related, in Ohio between 2008 and 2016. The report finds that Black women were two and half times more likely to die of a...
