Health Reform – Ohio

 

The Ohio Association of Health Plans wants to be part of the solution when it comes to fixing our health-care system.  The OAHP believes that all Ohioans should have access to health care benefits.

The OAHP has offered solutions to expand and improve coverage at the state level, including:

Developing New Opportunities for Coverage of the Uninsured – We believe that access to affordable, comprehensive care gives consumers the value they expect and contributes to the peace of mind that is essential to good health.

  • Expand the criteria and age of dependent coverage up to age 25;
  • Create a high-risk pool for individuals who are unable to obtain health insurance coverage in the individual marketplace due to catastrophic health conditions that is financially supported through a broad-based funding mechanism and eliminate the current reinsurance pool;
  • Leverage cost sharing subsidies for low-income workers to buy into available employer-sponsored health insurance coverage;
  • Promote the development of child- and student-only policies to be developed and offered in the marketplace by health plans;
  • Create opportunities for transitional products aimed at moving low-income workers from Medicaid to private market coverage; and
  • Support the development of trageted benefit products that provide new options of coverage for Ohioans such as preventive and outpatient coverage.

Promote Infrastructure for Improved Communication and Quality of Provided Care – We believe that consumers have a right to know about the quality of the care they are receiving and that health care professionals, employers, and insurers should work together to improve the quality of services and satisfaction of their consumers.

  • Create a joint physician/health plan task force to develop elements that should be used in the delivery of quality and cost information to consumers;
  • Support public-private partnerships to connect existing and future Regional Health Information Organizations for streamlined communication of information that coordinates with existing or proposed federal standards;
  • Develop incentives for physicians that adopt e-prescribing or other electronic technology;
  • Support efforts to increase cultural competencies and reduce healthcare desparities based on racial and ethnic differences;
  • Support incentives to reward high-quality outcomes and use of evidence-based medicine; and
  • Follow the lead of CMS by eliminating payment for avoidable medical errors.

Promote Health and Wellness Programs – We belive working with people to keep them healthy is as important as making them well. We value prevention as a key component of comprehensive care – reducing risks of illness and helping to treat small problems before they can become more severe.

  • Support efforts to address standards for nutrition and calorie levels of foods served to school-aged children to reduce existence of obesity in children;
  • Provide incentives for businesses that offer wellness programs that demonstrate an improvement in the physical fitness, healthy lifestyle choices and management of chronic diseases of their employees;
  • Provide incentives for individuals that adopt healthy lifestyles or make efforts at improving their health; and
  • Support statewide minimum standards for physical education in primary and secondary schools.

Leverage Existing State and Federal Programs to Expand Coverage – We believe that a health care safety net is necessary to serve the most vulnerable of our population.

  • Enhance efforts to identify and expand outreach to all individuals that are uninsured and currently qualify for Medicaid coverage;
  • Take advantage of available dollars for funding to extend Medicaid coverage for all adults up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level;
  • Allow access to healthcare benefits through the Medcaid Care Coordination Program for all Medicaid eligible recipients; and
  • Simplify the Medicaid enrollment process and enhance efforts to help Medicaid eligible Ohioans retain existing coverage.