Summary of SCI Team Recommendations

As we move towards a new session of the Ohio General Assembly in January, OAHU is preparing for further debate on the best way to reduce the number of uninsured Ohioans.  As previously reported, Governor Strickland’s State Coverage Initiative Team has issued its recommendations on how to best reduce the number of uninsured.  OAHU Legislative Chair, Ken Statz, served on the SCI Team Advisory Committee but did not have a vote on the SCI Team’s final recommendations.  Below is a summary of the SCI Team recommendations.

Reducing the Uninsured in Ohio–the State Coverage Initiative recommendations:

1. Require employers to adopt Section 125 plans
2. Adopt a reinsurance program to reduce costs for individuals and uninsured workers in small businesses
3. Authorize dependent coverage up to age 29
4. Premium assistance for workers to purchase employer-sponsored coverage
5. Enroll more uninsured currently eligible for Medicaid
6. Expand Medicaid coverage by leveraging federal matching funds
7. Provide coverage for non-Medicaid eligible adults below 100% of FPL
8. Require guaranteed issue in the individual market
9. Individual mandate to buy basic benefit plan
10. Require 5-1 rating variance in individual market
11. Provide subsidies for low income people not eligible for Medicaid
12. Place limits on ability of insurers to exclude pre-existing health conditions

As you can see, this is an ambitious set of recommendations that would have a very high price tag.  With the state of Ohio’s economy and the $540 million in budget cuts recently announced by Governor Strickland just to balance the current state budget, it is difficult to see where the funding would come from to implement many of the recommendations.

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