On Wednesday, November 28, the House Health Committee heard testimony on two separate bills that each aim to expand access to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders by loosening restrictions on pharmacists who dispense or administer MAT drugs. Proponents of Senate Bill 119 and House Bill 601 each testified to the importance of...
July 2, 2018
Administration, Managed Care Plans Signal They’re Ready for Final Phase of Behavioral Health Redesign, June JMOC Pt. 1
This is the first of a two-part blog covering the June 28, 2018 meeting of the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee. The second part addresses the committee’s discussion on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and can be found here. On July 1, behavioral health providers began submitting claims for services to Ohio’s five Medicaid managed care plans...
June 11, 2018
982 Ohioans were diagnosed with HIV last year. This number could be zero.
I recently received updated HIV epidemiology (the study of the distribution of disease in a population) from my public health partners at the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. The good news is the county’s HIV infection rate in 2016 was down, albeit modestly, for the fourth consecutive year, to 194 new diagnoses. Almost 1,000 new...
May 29, 2018
A “PEP” talk from Dr. Bruce Perry on Clinical Approach to Combat Adverse Childhood Experiences
Though the impacts of toxic stress and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can be overwhelming, Dr. Bruce Perry of the Child Trauma Academy gave an inspiring and informative talk in Cleveland on May 15 on the effects of such trauma, and ways to build and empower a trauma informed community. Though I have participated in many...
May 7, 2018
Why Aren’t More Older Adults Using SNAP?
May 7, 2018 Over the past year, my colleagues and I have released several research pieces related to food insecurity– most recently, Loren Anthes’ report, Hungry for Policy: Searching for Solutions to Food Insecurity in Ohio Medicaid. The links between food insecurity and poor health outcomes are well-documented, and older adults are particularly vulnerable to...
May 3, 2018
“Catastrophic” impact if Cuyahoga County levy doesn’t pass, 16 other Ohio communities to vote on Human Services levies
On May 8, 2018, in addition to hotly contested primaries for governor, voters in several communities across Ohio will have the opportunity to approve local property tax levies to support health and human services. Below this article a comprehensive list of these levies, which we complied from all 88 counties’ Boards of Elections. There are...
April 30, 2018
Hungry for Policy: A Deeper Dive on Older Adults
The Center for Community Solutions Public Policy Fellow Loren Anthes recently authored an issue brief on the relationship between food insecurity and Medicaid. One of the key takeaways from the brief is that “as a social determinant of health, food insecurity increases cost and diminishes outcomes in health care.” With a high number of older...
April 5, 2018
Ohio Medicaid Funding for County Program for Children with Autism, and Other Mental Health Needs, Slated to End
In less than 100 days the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) is poised to end a special funding arrangement for a 27-year-old program in Cuyahoga County called Positive Education Program (PEP) Connections. Each year, PEP Connections serves nearly 900 high-risk youth with autism, and or other intensive mental health needs who are also at risk...
April 2, 2018
Addressing Childhood Trauma to Create Positive Outcomes
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine hosted a conference on Tuesday, March 27, that focused on childhood trauma. The conference had roughly 700 registrants and highlighted the work happening every day in Ohio by using a platform for sharing ideas from around the country and the state. The Attorney General began the day by emphasizing that...
March 20, 2018
New Information Released on HHS Termination of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants
Today, NBC News released information from the internal notes of federal officials, highlighting reasons behind the early termination of federal Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program funding. The program was just beginning year three of a 5 year funding cycle when the change was announced last July. Although no poor outcomes were cited as a reason...