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________________________________
From: Laura Lamb
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 11:26 AM
To: Judy Kobick; Arlene Kaplan; Michelle LawsonBrown; Kristen Morgan
Subject: FW: Breaking News: State Gets Fed Approval For Medicaid Buy-In
Program
Special Update, Friday, March 14, 2008, 11:19 am
State Gets Federal Approval For Medicaid Buy-In Program For Working
Disabled Citizens
Advocates for the disabled scored a victory Friday when Ohio received
word that the federal agency overseeing Medicaid had approved a
long-sought buy-in program.
Under the program, working disabled citizens pay a premium into the
entitlement. The arrangement allows them to keep jobs and make
advancements without the threat of exceeding the Medicaid income limits
and losing health coverage.
Ohio's plan was enacted last spring with the biennium budget plan (HB
119). It had been the subject of prior legislative proposals, including
a separate bill (SB 4) sponsored last year by Sen. Steve Stivers
(R-Columbus)
Dave Zwyer, director of the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council,
said the program has been years in the making.
"We've been working on it in excess of seven years," he said.
Under the program, he said, disabled individuals "can go to work and
still have health insurance coverage. That's the bottom line."
"It just has a ripple effect in terms of people with disabilities going
to work or advancing in their careers."
More details are to follow in today's Gongwer News Service Ohio Report.
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