Below is a message sent out by Mark. Please feel free to pass this on to your staff, Board members, etc. We need as many people as possible to call legislators and pass along our message. Thank you! Janice Hall --------------------------------------------- As I shared last week (see below), the Controlling Board will vote on Monday, October 21st on the authorization of the appropriation for Medicaid extension. This decision will impact 275,000 Ohioans without health coverage, including many of our direct support professionals. It will also provide relief to OPRA members who employ DSP's - from the ACA mandate for employer-sponsored health care coverage. As I'm sure you know by now, that mandate will cost OPRA members an estimated $20 million per year without Medicaid extension. OPRA has been active in pursuit of Medicaid extension for low-wage workers. Many of you have personally been involved in this issue, talking with or emailing legislators, joining 2,500 Ohioans in the rain this past Spring at the Statehouse, and leaving the Spring Conference for a trip to the Statehouse again – 1,000 of us circling the Statehouse in silent support. I have talked with you about three pathways to Medicaid extension, one being the Controlling Board strategy. We are a few days away from the Controlling Board vote. We're getting down to the wire and need to make known our strong support for a "Yes" vote by Controlling Board members. Please take a few minutes to call each of the following members of the Ohio legislature: * Senate President Keith Faber -- (614) 466-7584 * Speaker of the House Bill Batchelder -- (614) 466-8140 * Sen. Pro Tempore Chris Widener -- (614) 466-3780 * Sen. Bill Coley -- (614) 466-8072 * Sen. Tom Sawyer -- (614) 466-7041 * Rep. Ron Amstutz -- (614) 466-1474 * Rep. Chris Redfern -- (614) 644-6011 * Rep. Cliff Rosenberger -- (614) 466-3506 SHORT MESSAGE: "I support the expansion of Medicaid coverage because it will provide health care coverage for many of our direct support professionals, it will create 30,000 new jobs and it will help Ohioans become more competitive and live better lives. Please vote "Yes" for the Medicaid extension appropriation at the Controlling Board meeting on Monday, October 21st." EXTENDED MESSAGE: "While I know that this may be a big decision for you, I ask you to put yourself in other peoples’ shoes. Think about being that direct support professional working with people with developmental disabilities, struggling to feed their family and being one illness or injury away from losing everything. I thank you in advance for your thoughtful consideration and again urge a “Yes” vote on October 21." Please forward this message on to your fellow employees and friends. We need our voices to be heard between now and Friday, October 18th! Also - Watch your email for details about a rally in the Cleveland area on Friday at 11:00am. Thank you. Mark Davis President Ohio Provider Resource Association 1152 Goodale Blvd. Columbus, Ohio 43212 614-224-6772 From: Mark Davis <mdavis@opra.org> Date: Friday, October 11, 2013 12:04 PM To: "opra_members@opra.simplelists.com" <opra_members@opra.simplelists.com> Subject: Governor Kasich Announces Intent to Proceed with Medicaid Extension, Asking for Controlling Board Appropriation Authority Today, Governor John Kasich announced that the extension of health care benefits to low-wage workers will be on the October 21st Controlling Board agenda. He will ask the panel to allocate federal funds to extend Medicaid health insurance benefits to 275,000 Ohioans who currently live without insurance. This is a clear pathway to get Medicaid expansion in place by January 1, 2014. OPRA stands behind Governor Kasich. We commend the Administration for its vigilance in pursuing a state plan amendment and taking the necessary steps to place the appropriation before the Controlling Board. OPRA urges the Controlling Board to approve the appropriation. Among the Ohioans who would receive Medicaid benefits are OPRA’s direct support professionals with incomes under 138 percent of poverty, along with more than 26,000 veterans and more than 50,000 Ohioans with unmet behavioral health needs. Extension would also bring relief for employers faced with the Affordable Care Act mandate for employer-sponsored health care. This would equate to estimated savings of $20 million annually for OPRA members alone. OPRA has been working hard for many months to bring about health care reform generally and Medicaid extension specifically. Our efforts have focused largely on supporting either a legislative solution or a ballot initiative to achieve this latter goal. However, the Controlling Board approach was always on the table and has seemed increasingly more likely in recent weeks. We recognize that the Controlling Board approach may well pose a challenge to the leaders of the Ohio General Assembly. It might also spur a legal challenge from organizations seeking to delay or defeat _any_ undertaking to extend health care coverage in Ohio. Nevertheless, we believe Governor Kasich has assessed his options thoughtfully and is proceeding down the path he believes has the most promise for success. He has the full support of OPRA. Here is an article on Ohio getting approval from CMS to proceed down this path, if the governor decided to pursue it. http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2013/10/ohio_gains_federal_approval_to.html#incart_river_default [1] Here is information from the Governor's Office of Health Transformation on the extension of Medicaid coverage. http://www.healthtransformation.ohio.gov/Budget/ExtendMedicaidServices.aspx [2] Please watch your email for how you can be helpful in making Medicaid extension a reality for our direct support professionals and other uninsured Ohioans. Mark Davis President Ohio Provider Resource Association 1152 Goodale Blvd. Columbus, Ohio 43212 614-224-6772 This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain private, confidential and/or privileged information, such as HIPAA Protected Health Information. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that any unauthorized use, disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the sender via telephone at 614-224-6772 or by return e-mail. Thank you. Este mensaje de correo electrónico, incluidos los archivos adjuntos, es para uso exclusivo del destinatario (s) y puede contener información privada, confidencial y / o privilegiados, tales como HIPAA información de salud protegida. Si no es el destinatario, tenga en cuenta que cualquier uso no autorizado, revelación, copia, distribución o la toma de cualquier acción basada en el contenido de esta información está estrictamente prohibida. Si usted ha recibido este mensaje por error, por favor notifique inmediatamente al remitente por teléfono al 614-224-6772 o por correo electrónico de respuesta. Gracias. You are receiving this important information as a member service of the Ohio Provider Resource Association. Unless messages and/or replies are specifically directed, each posting/response is sent to the entire group. This group is open only to OPRA members, a large and diverse body. The views of individual list serve users do not necessarily reflect the view of the OPRA Board or Staff. TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THIS LIST SERVE, PLEASE USE THE REPLY BUTTON. TO REPLY ONLY TO THE ORIGINAL SENDER, PLEASE RESPOND TO THE EMAIL LISTED AFTER "ON BEHALF OF" IN THE FROM LINE OF THE MESSAGE HEADER. THANK YOU. Links: ------ [1] http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2013/10/ohio_gains_federal_approval_to.html#incart_river_default [2] http://www.healthtransformation.ohio.gov/Budget/ExtendMedicaidServices.aspx
