Gov. Mike DeWine proposes overhaul of Ohio's Medicaid system

we now turn to the department of medicaid um since coming into office in january 2019 our administration has been evaluating our medicaid program department of medicaid officials have traveled the state and they've spoke to hundreds and hundreds of ohioans who were covered by medicaid to better understand what their actual experiences with medicaid have been and what their health outcomes have been we've also met with physicians hospitals

health care providers managed care plans to hear their ideas about how we improve the delivery of health care and the health of ohioans uh with from these conversations and this process we have developed a new plan uh a new vision for ohio's medicaid program one that focuses on people uh and not just focuses on the business of managed care a vision of what we hope will be a better

healthier more productive state of ohio this is the first major overhaul of medicaid in 15 years in the coming days the department of medicaid will be rolling out a series of requests for applications for managed care plans to submit to us to help carry out this vision so this is this process will be rolling out in the next few days the department of medicaid is the

largest provider of health insurance in the state of ohio medicaid covers 3 million ohioans of those nearly 90 are enrolled in a managed care plan including every nearly every child enrolled in medicaid in the state of ohio that's why what these plans do is are very important tomorrow a new application will open for those businesses interested in providing managed care plans for children and adults within the medicaid

program the selected plans the ones that are selected will be an essential piece in improving the health and lives of millions of ohioans not only will selected plans work with my administration to build better systems of care but they also play a special role in helping their members develop good health habits such as using primary care instead of the emergency rooms getting needed vaccinations and attending prenatal visits for pregnant women they'll also help to

coordinate care for individuals with more complex health needs ensuring that patients see their specialists and take their needed medication medicaid's new program will focus on all of the following one improving care for children who have complex needs two it will emphasize the personalized care experience of the patient three improving wellness and health outcomes getting in front of the problem

uh focusing on wellness number four giving doctors and other medical providers more time to spend with patients and patients having more lengthy conversations with their doctors i think that is very important next increasing transparency and accountability across managed care to improve members care and experience and making sure all recipients understand what their prescription drug and their other benefits actually are

let me make one thing clear if you're watching this and you're currently covered by medicaid please know that any changes to ohio's managed care plans will not disrupt your coverage or your access to care