The state reversed a decision Wednesday to cut health care to poor Ohioans with no access to other coverage.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services retracted its decision to phase out disability medical assistance starting in March, requesting that the program be extended until October of next year in its executive budget proposal. The state would have saved $4 million by cutting the program early, but the department's right to make that decision was questioned.
Part of terminating a program includes a two-week clearance process when various groups, including advocates, citizens, counties and recipients of the program can comment on the emergency action. The authority of the department to phase out the program legally between March 1 and Aug. 31 was questioned, said Jon Allen, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Barbara Riley, the department's director, said a memo written to the Ohio General Assembly members and staff read: The department will not proceed with the proposed rule ... the department will pursue its (disability medical assistance) cost containment proposal in the (state fiscal year 2006-07) budget deliberation process.
The issue will simply get an airing through the budget deliberation process so there is no dispute about authority
Allen said.
The General Assembly and Gov. Bob Taft will decide how much funding the program will receive in the official two-year budget.
The program, with a projected cost of $73 million in 2005, was created as a safety net for needy individuals who are ineligible for Medicaid, Social Security or other state-assistance programs, Allen said.
About 15,000 Ohioans are enrolled in the program, and Athens County has a caseload of 118 people. The program includes people who earn less than $115 a month and have chronic medical conditions, such as heart problems, diabetes or mental illness.
Because they don't qualify for Medicaid or other assistance programs this is literally a group of people who fall through the cracks department spokeswoman Tracy Galway said.
Recipients of the assistance must reapply every six months to ensure that disability requirements are being met.
The proposal to cut the program next year is part of Taft's plan to slow Medicaid's rapid growth. Medicaid is a $10 billion program and accounts for almost 40 percent of state spending.
17
Archives
Chrissy Lane
