Author: Tara Britton (Tara Britton)

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Data shows drop in unintentional drug overdose deaths in 2018

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...

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Ohio Medicaid’s end-of-year report reveals problems stemming from eligibility system; what does it mean and how will it be addressed?

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...

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Report on Ohio’s maternal deaths provides look at contributing factors, makes recommendations for improvement

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...

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Medicaid oversight committee meets for first time in months, gets updates from Ohio Medicaid director

The Director of the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) Maureen Corcoran appeared before the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC) for the first time in her tenure on Thursday. Since this was the first JMOC meeting of the 133rd General Assembly, there was a lot of content to cover, followed by a lot of questions over...

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Ohio’s new budget includes funding for harm reduction, including syringe services programs

For the first time, Ohio’s state operating budget includes a dedicated line item that will fund harm reduction, including syringe services programs (SSPs) across the state. This funding was proposed and then ushered through budget deliberations by Senators Dave Burke (R-Marysville) and Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood). While many harm reduction initiatives, such as naloxone access and...

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Plan to end HIV Epidemic: AFC, Community Solutions staff join roundtable discussion in Cincinnati

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) hosted a roundtable in Cincinnati on August 1 featuring the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Robert Redfield. Dr. Redfield is traveling around the country to states and counties that are eligible for new federal funding as part of the president’s recently announced plan...

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Improving data reporting and transparency of data improves but more work left to do

Heading into the 2020-21 state budget, The Center for Community Solutions closely examined the cause behind declining enrollment in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, a larger proportion of the TANF caseload consisting of child-only cases (where children are living with another relative who isn’t their parent and receive cash assistance) and the...

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Feds float idea of re-evaluating poverty measures: Why you should pay attention

Last month, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), issued a notice that it’s looking at various inflation measures and how those measures influence the Official Poverty Measure (OPM) and other Census Bureau income measures. What does this mean? Currently, the OPM is tied to the consumer price index (CPI). The CPI is an inflation measure...

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Governor’s budget makes effort to address high infant mortality rate, more work needed on Ohio’s maternal mortality rate

Ohio continues to grapple with an unacceptably high rate of infant mortality, especially among black babies born in the state. Governor Mike DeWine’s budget for 2020-2021 seeks to address this issue through increased funding for home visiting and the continuation of efforts employed over the last few years. Let’s take some time to dig in...