“As we begin the process of redetermining eligibility for the first time in three years, we must pay particular attention to children’s needs to minimize the number of children who lose coverage.”
A new study warns of a sharp rise in uninsured children in Ohio and across the country if pandemic-era coverage is allowed to fade away.
The Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families studied the impact of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid on bringing down state’s uninsured rate, finding that it “proved to be a critical lifeline for more than half of the nation’s children during the pandemic.”
Now that a March 2020 provision increasing the federal contribution to state Medicaid programs while requiring states to maintain continuous coverage for Medicaid patients during the COVID-19 public health emergency will be going away, the number of children falling under those protections will also be decreasing.
“These children are at grave risk of losing coverage inappropriately in states that do not handle the renewal process with the utmost care,” the study stated.
Because of a loss of income eligibility and “bureaucratic snafus,” the study estimates up to 6.7 million children in the U.S. will lose coverage because of the “unwinding” of pandemic-era programs, scheduled to happen on April 1.
“The uninsured rate for children could easily more than double if states have inadequate staffing levels and overwhelmed call centers and do not take the time and care needed to properly conduct eligibility checks after the federal protections lift,” the study stated.
From February 2020 to August 2022, Ohio saw a 26.7% increase in Medicaid and CHIP enrollment, ranking them 29th in the nation based on data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The share of enrollment made up by children in Ohio was 25.6%.
“As we begin the process of redetermining eligibility for the first time in three years, we must pay particular attention to children’s needs to minimize the number of children who lose coverage,” Kelly Vyzral, senior health policy associate for the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio, said in response to the study.
The Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio said nearly half of children in Ohio are covered by Medicaid and other public health insurance programs. The study showed 54% of all American children are covered by Medicaid of CHIP.
Ohio already has the 12-month continuous Medicaid and CHIP child eligibility for those under age 19 recommended by the study to mitigate losses and gaps in coverage.
Continuous eligibility protects parents who see an increase in income during a 12-month period from losing child Medicaid or CHIP coverage.
Ohioans should verify contact information with local benefits offices or through the Medicaid patient portal to avoid cancellation of child insurance, Vyzral said.
Ohio must complete Medicaid eligibility checks by May 2024.
Loveland, Ohio – On Wednesday night the Loveland High School Wind Ensemble performed four compositions in the Ronald G Dewitt Auditorium. The theme of the concert was, “Timbres, Textures, and Tessituras”.
Loveland, Ohio – The #25 seed Loveland Tigers Men’s Basketball Team begins their journey into the State tournament tonight at 6 PM. The game is at Fairfield High School. Loveland had a first-round bye and will face #5 seed Princeton who defeated #32 seed Edgewood 61-24 to advance into the second round.
The Tigers finished the ECC regular season in 6th place with a 7-9, 10-12 record. Brayden Frietch (11.5 season average), Andrew Breese (10.7 season average), and Jack Sauer (10 season average ) are the top Tiger scorers.
Loveland, Ohio – The Loveland American Legion Auxiliary Unit 256 is planning to honor female active duty and military veterans on March 8.
Calling all Active duty and Veteran military women
The Loveland American Legion Auxiliary Unit #256 would like to honor your spouse, friend, or family member’s service to our country. A dinner event will be held on March 8 on International Women’s Day. You can certainly also make a reservation for yourself if you are serving or have served in the United States Armed Forces.
Reservations are required. You can contact Pat Morganroth at 513-236-8450 or Margie Hominy at 440-823-2515.
Loveland, Ohio – The Loveland High School Men’s Bowling team went wire to wire this season and won the 1st ever ECC Bowling Tournament on Saturday. Based on the regular season and tourney play, Loveland walked away with ECC Championships. Loveland finished the regular season 9-0, and 15-2 overall.
Brady Burns averaged 205.7 and Wyatt Glassmeyer 186.3 in the ECC tournament. Burns made the ECC Conference All-Tournament Team with a 617 tournament series.
Two groups who had already committed to separate efforts to get reproductive rights in the hands of Ohio voters have now merged and set an end goal: abortion access on the November ballot.
Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights announced Thursday that they are joining together to “file language with the Ohio Attorney General to place a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment to restore and protect reproductive rights and abortion access on the November 2023 statewide general election ballot.”
“This grassroots initiative – by and for the people of Ohio – is foundational to ensuring access to abortion and the right to bodily autonomy, not only for ourselves, but for generations to come,” said Kellie Copeland, executive director of Pro-Choice Ohio and member of Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, said in the announcement.
The groups said the constitutional amendment will look similar to a Michigan amendment which voters approved in November 2022.
After the amendment is drafted and reviewed by the state Attorney General and Ohio Ballot Board, the groups plan to circulate petitions to place the issue on the ballot.
Rumblings of a constitutional amendment have been floating for months now, spurred on by the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned decades old nationwide rights to abortion nationwide in Roe v. Wade.
Placing the measure on the 2023 ballot was called a “moral imperative” which “offers the best prospects for success,” according to Dr. Lauren Beene, executive director of the OPRR.
“The lives and health of Ohioans have been at risk since Roe was overturned,” Beene said in a statement. “That is why we must seize the earliest possible opportunity to ensure that doctors and patients, rather than politicians and the government, are empowered to make decisions about pregnancy, contraception and abortion.”
The ballot measure might have another issue if in-fighting within the state’s Republican caucus continues. One side of the caucus is promoting the controversial legislation that would raise the threshold to approve constitutional amendments, while House Speaker Jason Stephens didn’t list it as one of the priority bills he and his faction unveiled on Wednesday.
Republicans on both sides of the aisle have expressed interest in legislative prohibitions to abortion since the downfall of Roe, and both sides are awaiting the resolution of a court case under which a six-week abortion ban is paused indefinitely as appeals go through.
Symmes Township, Ohio – The Smith Corporation will be installing a sanitary sewer between 9310 and 9360 Union Cemetery Road beginning Monday, February 20th. The closure is expected to last through Friday, March 17th.
The project will eliminate three household sewage treatment systems. Metropolitan Sewer Disrrict proposes to construct approximately 500 linear feet of 8-inch diameter gravity sewer, four 6-inch diameter sewer laterals, and sewer appurtenances.
If you should have any issues, it is suggested you contact Jay Smith with Smith Corporation at (513)782-8882 or Kurtis Boggs with the Hamilton County Engineer’s office at (513)946-8430.
Every day more details emerge from Ohio’s billion-dollar bailout bribery trial showcasing gargantuan levels of arrogance, corruption, and enabling among energy executives and Ohio’s most powerful Republican politicians.
Pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United ruling, Clark described to undercover FBI agents how to make dark money contributions in a way calculated to get a public official’s attention, saying those should come in chunks of $15,000, $20,000, $25,000 or more.
“Based on a Supreme Court decision, businesses can do this and nobody can do anything about it,” Clark said. “Politicians can get a bunch of money and say, ‘I didn’t know.’”
And that exactly how many Ohio politicians have been operating, this trial is showing: Selfish, reckless, greedy, amoral, large-scale, pay-to-play grift.
The scope of corruption at every turn in Ohio is a bit staggering, so let’s take a look at all we’ve learned so far, all together in one place:
Indicted former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder. Official photo.
Executives from financially struggling FirstEnergy flew Ohio House speaker aspirant Larry Householder and associate Jeff Longstreth to D.C. on the FE corporate jet in January 2017 for some swanky steakhouse dinners.
Partners for Progress was the dark money project of then-FirstEnergy lobbyist Dan McCarthy. It received $5 million from FirstEnergy within a few weeks of when McCarthy founded it.
Juan Cespedes. Photo provided.
During a meeting between Householder and FirstEnergy lobbyists in October 2018, a lobbyist named Robert F. Klaffky slid an envelope containing a check for $400,000 across the table and under Householder’s hand as they discussed a $1.3 billion ratepayer bailout of failing nuclear and coal plants, former FirstEnergy lobbyist Juan Cespedes testified.
“Our client cares very much about this issue,” Klaffky told Householder.
“We were trying to establish the fact that our support was specifically tied to the legislation,” Cespedes said.
All told, Householder’s dark money political machine amassed $61 million in utility company contributions to elect a legislature that would make him speaker and pass the bailout.
Why did it go through the dark money groups like that? It was thought to be bad optics if the struggling company were publicly giving the money, Cespedes said in testimony.
Even though he was supposed to be regulating the utility, the official, Sam Randazzo, played a role in writing the bailout legislation, according to documents released by the Ohio House.
Center, former Ohio Republican Party chair, and statehouse lobbyist, Matt Borges with his attorneys outside of the federal courthouse. Photo courtesy of WEWS.
“He’s going to be a friend in this process,” Borges texted to Cespedes. “So let’s be prepared to speak up for him.”
Cespedes responded, “We will support him more than anyone.”
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Official photo.
Kiani had plans to operate the two FirstEnergy Solutions nuclear power plants in Ohio for a short period, get a government bailout and then sell the power plants in a deal in which he stood to make $100 million, Cespedes testified.
DeWine and Husted, as well as Yost and LaRose, were reelected to second four-year terms in 2022.
Husted, Yost, and LaRose are all poised to continue to seek political advancement in Ohio.
Generation Now, Cespedes, and Longstreth have pleaded guilty.
FirstEnergy entered into its deferred prosecution agreement.
Neil Clark died by suicide in 2021, nine months after being indicted by federal prosecutors.
The federal racketeering trials of Householder and Borges are ongoing and expected to last until March.
Jurors will review all the evidence and decide their fate.
It will be up to Ohioans to decide how long we will continue to allow our politicians to rob and abuse us in service to themselves and private interest profiteering.
Every day we learn more about how Ohio government has really been operating under the design of unscrupulous thieves and grifters, rotting the institutions of our state into a national joke and embarrassment: a grotesque totem to pay-to-play corruption; a decayed and decrepit husk of representative democracy.
Calling all 3rd, 4th & 5th graders. The Hamilton County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency’s 6th Annual #SevereWeather Poster Contest has kicked off and they want your submissions.
The 1st place winner will get the chance to report the weather with WCPO’s Steve Raleigh. The 2nd place winner will receive a disaster preparedness kit from American Red Cross.
Entry is open to all Hamilton County elementary school students in GRADES 3, 4, AND 5 in public, private, and charter schools, as well as any students being homeschooled.
Poster theme should depict what severe weather in Ohio means to the student and/or what actions to take to prepare and stay safe.
Creativity is the key. Individual work is encouraged. Posters with stencils, traced, computer- generated or commercially manufactured stick-on lettering or images will be disqualified.
Poster should be no larger than 11”x14.” Those larger than the identified size may be disqualified.
Students should use only crayon, markers, colored pencils, or watercolor/acrylic paint.
Themes
When creating your poster, focus on one of the following themes:
FIVE R.R. CARS ON THEIR SIDE AFTER TRAIN DERAILMENT
Loveland, Ohio – Early on the morning of Tuesday, August 31, 2004, five cars from a CSX train that had just passed through Historic Downtown Loveland derailed and ended up on their sides within thirty-five feet of O’Bannon Creek. The last car in the train had just passed West Loveland Avenue when it came to a halt. The train was heading northeast towards Goshen Township and early speculation from firefighters at the scene was that faulty and decayed wooden railroad crossties caused the accident.
Twisted track underneath one of the damaged railroad cars.
It was a tight-lipped CSX official who would say no more than that six train cars were involved and that the cars were not carrying hazardous materials. The derailment began on a curve in the track in the heart of downtown near the historic train depot that is now the Fleet Feet store. The cars came to a halt about one-thousand feet later, just west of St. Route 48 and the automobile bridge over O’Bannon Creek. The official said that the accident was on private railroad property and that no media was allowed to view or photograph the accident. A Loveland firefighter later escorted Loveland Magazine to the scene.
A CSX worker looking for leaks from an overturned tanker.
It was later revealed by Loveland Magazine that a tank car full of toluene was only a few cars behind the ones on their sides and was heading into the wrecked cars.
Two tankers and three boxcars were on their side.
Loveland Police Chief Dennis Rees said that at first, the train conductor was very uncooperative and he even had trouble getting the man to give him his name, and then he only offered his first name. Rees said, “They were very secretive.” Rees also said the conductor at first refused to give him the train’s manifest so emergency personnel could tell what dangers emergency responders and the nearby residents faced. Rees then instructed one of his officers to place the train conductor in handcuffs if he didn’t produce the manifest. Rees said the conductor, then handed over the paperwork.
Atlas Railroad Construction Company workers measuring and inspecting the track.
The railroad notified the police department about the accident at 3:39 AM. Personnel from the Atlas Railroad Construction Company was on hand later in the morning measuring and inspecting the track at the point where the damage caused by wheels dragging along the railroad ties was first apparent. Late into Wednesday evening, there was an abundance of heavy equipment at the site working to remove the damaged cars and make track repairs.
According to Miami Township Fire and EMS Chief, James Whitworth, police and fire personnel from Loveland, as well as members of the Goshen, Miami, Union, and Hamilton Township fire departments responded. More than forty, fire and police personnel were at the scene as well as numerous personnel from CSX, the American Red Cross, and an emergency Petroclean Hazmat team.
Only one of the cars was leaking a small, but steady stream of what was described as candle wax, and no injuries were reported.
There was damage to both sets of parallel railroad tracks.
The train tracks were damaged, when the overturned cars skidded and dug into the parallel tracks along this part of the railway line.
Loveland Magazine reported at the time that the “CSX Corporation was the parent company of a number of subsidiaries that provide freight transportation services across America and around the world. Formed in 1980, CSX Transportation operated the largest rail network in the eastern United States.”
When the different fire departments responded to the scene, they loaded more than 3,000 feet of large-diameter hose on the back of a flatbed truck. They then drove the truck to the overturned cars, turned the truck around, and went back the quarter mile to the fire hydrants on St. Rt. 48, all along, laying out the hose and coupling it together from the back of the truck.
Toluene is extremely flammable and harmful if inhaled or swallowed and is a central nervous system depressant. The vapor may cause headache, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, confusion, and incoordination. Toluene is a teratogen and can cause malformations of an embryo or fetus. Had this car been full and the contents leaked into the nearby O’Bannon Creek which empties into the Little Miami River, tens of thousands of people would have been affected as drinking water wells for Milford, Indian Hill, and communities south of Loveland that pump drinking water from wells along this river. Loveland’s wells are upstream from where the O’Bannon feeds into the Little Miami River.
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