Poverty & Safety Net
Article

Ohio needs emergency health & human services Coronavirus policy changes

Community Solutions Team
Transforming data into progress
Additional Contributors
No items found.
March 16, 2020
Read time:
Download Fact Sheets
Register now
Share this resource
Subscribe to our Newsletter
By subscribing you agree to with our Privacy Policy.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Download this as a PDF

In light of the first, and hopefully only, global pandemic in our lives, my colleagues and I, with help from others, have pulled together a list of policy steps that we think are essential. The challenges the health and humans services sector face are unlikely any in our lifetime. Unless we take extraordinary steps, lives will be lost, and the health and human services sector and those it serves will be permanently damaged and may never recover. If we take these steps (and others) we can help flatten the coronavirus curve, help the reinforce the health care sector today and help it recover from this epidemic sooner, and -- not unimportantly -- help our economy recover faster. We welcome the ideas of others and appreciate the enormous amount of work it would take to accomplish all these steps. But if there was ever a time to be bold, that time is now.

Unless we take extraordinary steps, lives will be lost, and the health and human services sector and those it serves will be permanently damaged and may never recover.

Our recommendations fit into four categories:

  • Getting Medicaid coverage to people who don’t have health insurance or who have lost their health insurance as soon as possible and helping those who have it to keep it.
  • Protecting patients and health care providers by eliminating every payer barrier to telemedicine. This includes for individuals involved in the criminal justice system, and by suspending all prior authorizations and copays for doctor ordered health care services, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment during the state of emergency.
  • Maximizing the capacity of the delivery system to screen, test and treat communities by suspending any recertifications associated with clinical licensure, expanding the potential locations where services can be provided and making any eligibility determinations and payments made during the period of emergency disqualified for future program integrity penalties.
  • Public benefit programs can help alleviate suffering and provide economic stimulus during this critical time. Benefit levels must be increased, application processes streamlined, work requirements eliminated and no one should be terminated from these benefits during the state of emergency.

Medicaid

Eligibility

  • Medicaid should consider using an 1135 waiver under the Stafford Act to seek federal approval to expand Medicaid to higher income levels – 300 percent for children and 200 percent for adults.
  • Make COVID-19 a cause “special enrollment” in Marketplace plansThe following proposals should be in place until both the state and national emergency declarations have expired.

Temporary Changes

  • Suspend program participation and licensure renewal requirements for providers
  • Suspend or eliminate facility requirements that inhibit maximum ability to test and screen (i.e. allow for motels to serve as a potential screening, testing and/or treatment location)
  • Allow for “license equivalency” i.e. licensed providers from other states can practice in Ohio. This should apply to labs and to any telemedicine that may be provided.
  • Decrease or eliminate benefit limits which can inhibit social distancing (i.e. increase number of meals able to be delivered under waivers).
  • Remove current restrictions on presumptive eligibility (PE), including those that preclude PE to only happen once in the last 12 months.
  • Suspend all Medicaid redeterminations - extend coverage indefinitely.
  • Suspend all Medicaid prior authorizations for pharmacy, services, durable medical equipment, etc.
  • Require managed care plans to suspend prior authorization requirements and to extend current prior authorizations indefinitely.
  • Draft a state plan amendment requesting all copays be eliminated, but especially for those services covered under the pharmacy benefit and non-emergency services obtained in a hospital or emergency room.
  • Eliminate all barriers to telemedicine. There should be no payment difference for these services whether they are paid in person or provided through telehealth, whether through audio/video or only using audio.
  • Suspend any regulatory requirement regarding the JMOC threshold.
  • Provide presumptive eligibility for justice-involved individuals, allow telemedicine for justice-involved individuals.

Other

  • Minimum Medicaid benefits should include COVID-19 testing as a mandatory lab testing benefit. Medicaid should also consider extending these benefits to tests that do not meet the standard of having the service provided in an office or similar facility. In particular, determine if mobile health units can be deployed to provide tests, based on actionable information, and allow them to be eligible for technical fees or to be considered for a federally qualified health center payment.
  • Ask the federal government to reduce risk to states administering Medicaid benefits. Declare any payments made during emergency ineligible for Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation (MFAR) calculation. Eliminate any penalties for states and counties associated with ineligible enrollment. Suspend public charge policies for Medicaid.
  • Create a centralized website explaining Medicaid changes made due to COVID-19. Include information like what benefits have changed, what has changed about eligibility, and copies of any documents submitted to CMS.

SNAP

The following proposals should be in place until both the state and national emergency declarations have expired.

  • Suspend all SNAP redeterminations, interim reports and case closures.
  • Eliminate SNAP interview requirements.
  • Accept SNAP application as self-declaration of eligibility without requiring any further documentation.
  • Increase SNAP benefit level.

WIC

  • Ask the federal government to waive federal requirements that retailers stock specific food products and a specific amount of those products in order to be certified by the WIC program. Since there is uncertainty as to how food supply chains may be affected we don't want retailers to fear losing their WIC certification and stop serving low-income families

TANF

  • Suspend mandatory work requirements for applicants and recipients, and do not impose any TANF sanctions or time limits during a time of emergency.
  • For the purpose of establishing or maintaining eligibility, disregard any discontinued income from prior months or even if received earlier in the month.
  • Consider creating a new COVID19-specific or disaster-relief specific program to provide temporary cash to families. There could be minimal eligibility detail required with no asset tests and broad income guidelines, such as serving families with income below 200 percent of the federal poverty line.
Download Fact Sheets

District 10

Download

All Council Districts 2024

Download

District 4

Download

District 2

Download

District 11

Download

District 9

Download

District 8

Download

District 5

Download

District 7

Download

District 1

Download

District 3

Download

District 6

Download

West Boulevard

Download

University

Download

Union-Miles

Download

Tremont

Download

Stockyards

Download

St.Clair-Superior

Download

Old Brooklyn

Download

Ohio City

Download

North Shore Collinwood

Download

Mount Pleasant

Download

Lee-Seville

Download

Lee-Harvard

Download

Kinsman

Download

Kamm's Corners

Download

Jefferson

Download

Goodrich-Kirtland Park

Download

Glenville

Download

Fairfax

Download

Euclid-Green

Download

Edgewater

Download

Downtown

Download

Detroit Shoreway

Download

Cudell

Download

Collinwood-Nottingham

Download

Clark-Fulton

Download

Central

Download

Buckeye-Woodhill

Download

Buckeye-Shaker Square

Download

Brooklyn Centre

Download

Broadway-Slavic Village

Download

Bellaire-Puritas

Download

All Neighborhoods 2024

Download

West Boulevard Factsheet

Download

University Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Union-Miles Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Tremont Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Stockyards Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

St. Clair-Superior Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Old Brooklyn Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Ohio City Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

North Shore Collinwood Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Lee-Seville Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Lee-Harvard Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Kinsman Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Kamm's Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Jefferson Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Hough Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Hopkins Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Goodrich-Kirtland Park Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Glenville Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Fairfax Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Euclid-Green Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Edgewater Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Downtown Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Cuyahoga Valley Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Cudell Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Collinwood-Nottingham Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Clark-Fulton Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Central Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Buckeye-Shaker Square Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Brooklyn Centre Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Broadway-Slavic Village Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

Bellaire-Puritas Neighborhood Factsheet

Download

All Neighborhoods 2016

Download

District 2

Download

District 1

Download

Ohio Women Statewide

Download

All Women Fact Sheets

Download

Wyandot Women

Download

Wood Women

Download

Williams Women

Download

Wayne Women

Download

Washington Women

Download

Warren Women

Download

Vinton Women

Download

Van Wert Women

Download

Union Women

Download

Tuscarawas Women

Download

Trumbell Women

Download

Summit Women

Download

Stark Women

Download

Shelby Women

Download

Seneca Women

Download

Scioto Women

Download

Sandusky Women

Download
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Download report

Subscribe to our newsletter

5 Things you need to know arrives on Mondays with the latest articles, events, and advocacy developments in Ohio

Explore the fact sheets

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique.

No Related Fact Sheets

Explore Topics

Browse articles, research, and testimony.