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Tribal advocates keep up legal pressure for fair political maps; 12-member jury sworn in for Trump's historic criminal trial; the importance of healthcare decision planning; and a debt dilemma: poll shows how many people wrestle with college costs.

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Civil rights activists say a court ruling could end the right to protest in three southern states, a federal judge lets January 6th lawsuits proceed against former President Trump, and police arrest dozens at a Columbia University Gaza protest.

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Rural Wyoming needs more vocational teachers to sustain its workforce pipeline, Ohio environmental advocates fear harm from a proposal to open 40-thousand forest acres to fracking and rural communities build bike trail systems to promote nature, boost the economy.

Cutting the Red Tape in Children’s Health Coverage in Ohio

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Monday, March 16, 2009   

Columbus, OH – Grab the scissors! It's time to start cutting red tape.

That's the word from advocates working to remove obstacles that keep eligible Ohio children from getting health coverage through Medicaid. Attorney David Koeninger with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality in Lucas County says the current system can be a burden on families, who often face confusing, repetitious paperwork.

"Folks repeat or provide the same information they've provided a number of times in a number of programs other than their medical program. Yet somehow the information hasn't gotten through, and they haven't maintained their eligibility in the medical program they mean to stay in."

On the government side of the equation, it's all about working smarter, according to the health policy director for Voices for Ohio's Children, Mary Wachtel. She says the state can do that by using information that's already on hand.

"The state can coordinate information between public programs - between child care and health care, between the WIC program and health care, between school lunch and health care - to break down some of those barriers."

Many are hoping Ohio can follow the lead of Louisiana, a state that has received national recognition for lifting roadblocks to enrollment. Ruth Kennedy, director of the Louisiana Children's Health Insurance Program, led that initiative, which resulted in increased numbers of Louisianans enrolled in public health insurance programs.

"It's making a big difference in keeping eligible children enrolled. That stability of coverage, that continuity of coverage, is so important in addressing quality of care."

Renewal problems lead to children moving on and off the Medicaid rolls, which can add to families' expense, since it costs about $71 to enroll a child. Experts say funding from the recently signed CHIP reauthorization law could help the state of Ohio streamline enrollment procedures. Nationwide, the reauthorization will provide an additional $35 billion over five years to strengthen CHIP's financing, increase outreach and enrollment for children of the working poor, and improve the quality of health care these children receive.



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