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Gongwer News mentions Voices for Ohio's Children

01-23-2007 -

GOVERNOR SEEKS FEDERAL OK FOR MEDICAID SUBSIDY OF HEALTH INSURANCE; BUSH WANTS TAX DEDUCTION FOR HEALTH POLICIES

EXCERPT FROM GONGWER NEWS SERVICE, INC. OHIO REPORT
REPORT NO. 16, VOLUME 76-- TUESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2007

Gov. Ted Strickland said Tuesday he would seek federal approval this month of a plan to use Medicaid funds to subsidize health insurance premiums of an estimated 300,000 adults who currently lack coverage.

Mr. Strickland outlined a trio of health care proposals during appearances on a radio program and at an Ohio State University public health symposium.

The overview came hours before President Bush prepared to announce during his State of the Union speech proposals of his own to make basic private health coverage more widely available.

Mr. Bush called for giving "a substantial tax benefit" to those why buy health policies individually rather than through employers. He also directed Secretary Mike Leavitt of the Department of Health and Human Services to help states pay private health insurance premiums for the poor and hard to insure.

Gov. Strickland intends to meet in Cleveland on January 30 with Secretary Leavitt, who oversees the federal-state Medicaid program.

"I'm going to be asking for Ohio to be granted a waiver so that we can use Medicaid dollars to provide subsidies to those who don't currently qualify for Medicaid coverage, and yet don't make enough money to purchase individual insurance policies, and who do not work for employers who provide coverage," the governor said.

"We're talking about the so-called working poor," he said during an appearance on the "Open Line" program on WOSU radio in Columbus.

"We want a federal waiver that will enable us to use Medicaid dollars to subsidize the premiums so that those families, those individuals, moms and dads, can be covered through a subsidized program using Medicaid dollars that are not currently available for that purpose," Mr. Strickland said.

If granted, the waiver would implement a proposal the former Democratic congressman first outlined during his gubernatorial campaign last August. It calls for the state to subsidize insurance premiums of Medicaid ineligible adults who earn up to 150% of the federal poverty level.

A separate proposal calls for the state to partner with insurance companies and small business to create what is called the Ohio Healthcare Exchange. It is described as an attempt to use competition and "simplified coverage options" to make affordable health care available at premiums as low as $150 per individual.

About 1.1 million adult Ohioans, and an estimated 156,000 children age 17 and younger, are uninsured at present.

A section of the Social Security Act authorizes the HHS Secretary to waive laws and regulations in order for states to test changes in Medicaid eligibility and benefits. The waivers are supposed to be budget neutral for the federal government.

A 2005 report from the Kaiser Foundation concluded that while waivers can "sometimes be used to expand coverage," they also "may create new fiscal pressures for states over time."

Gov. Strickland also called during Tuesday's broadcast for Ohio to implement "a very aggressive outreach program" to boost enrollment of uninsured children in the State Children's Health Insurance Plan, or SCHIP.

"We need to aggressively reach out to these families and these children and get them enrolled as quickly as possible," he said.

"Our first goal in terms of health care coverage should be to make sure the children have the care that they need, and I think we can achieve that goal with a relatively modest investment of state dollars," he said.

The 2004 Ohio Family Health Survey estimated 106,000 of the state's 156,000 uninsured children live in families with incomes under 200% of the federal poverty level, which is $33,200 a year for a family of three. They are eligible for the SCHIP program, funded on a match of 71% federal and 29% state.

An additional 30,000 of the uninsured children live in families with incomes between 201% and 300% of the poverty level. Expanding the eligibility level to 300%, as some advocates recommend, would provide nearly all children in the state with access to health coverage. The proposal Mr. Strickland discussed would not raise the income level.

Voices for Ohio's Children, a non-partisan group of public, private, and not for profit organizations, is backing congressional reauthorization and expansion of the SCHIP program. The present reauthorization expires Sept. 30.