Author

Marty Schladen has been a reporter for decades, working in Indiana, Texas and other places before returning to his native Ohio to work at The Columbus Dispatch in 2017. He's won state and national journalism awards for investigations into utility regulation, public corruption, the environment, prescription drug spending and other matters.
LaRose says Dems might wreck election integrity, touts Trump, who’s suspected of election fraud
By: Marty Schladen - April 27, 2022
Ohio’s top elections official on Sunday tweeted that if Democrats win in Ohio they might undermine secure elections. Then he boasted of an endorsement from someone who is himself under investigation for possible election fraud. It might demonstrate the needle Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is trying to thread as he runs on a […]
As pandemic ebbs, fears grow that Ohioans will be improperly forced off of Medicaid
By: Marty Schladen - April 25, 2022
As pandemic ebbs, fears grow that Ohioans will be improperly forced off of Medicaid. State to decertify recipients much faster than federal guidelines require.
Louisiana sues health care company over practices under investigation in Ohio
By: Marty Schladen - April 22, 2022
Louisiana is suing health care giant UnitedHealth over several business practices, saying it is seeking “to recover billions of dollars in inflated prescription-drug prices” for the state Medicaid program. Among its allegations, the state accuses the company of gaming federal oversight reports meant to ensure that at least 85% of the money it gets from […]
Consulting firm that worked for the feds had conflicts. What about another that worked for Ohio?
By: Marty Schladen - April 19, 2022
Can Ohioans be confident that a consulting firm paid almost $10 million by taxpayers last year to assist in a $22 billion procurement didn’t have conflicts of interest? The firm hasn’t answered whether any of the Medicaid managed-care bidders were also its clients. And Ohio officials don’t appear to have much interest in digging out […]
OSU denies it was fighting sex-abuse victims’ ability to sue
By: Marty Schladen - April 15, 2022
After this story was published, Ohio State on Friday announced additional settlements with survivors of sexual abuse. The story has been updated with that information. In 2019, top Ohio State officials quietly worked to kill a bill that would have waived the statute of limitations for sexual-abuse victims to sue the school, an investigation by […]
As gun laws loosen, gun deaths increase
By: Marty Schladen - April 13, 2022
Many states have been loosening their gun laws in recent years. This year Ohio allowed people to carry handguns without a permit — a move that enjoys the support of just 20% of Americans, the Pew Research Center reports. When Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 215 last month, he joined 23 other states, almost […]
JobsOhio has a $50M ad campaign, but how does it measure success?
By: Marty Schladen - April 11, 2022
In Austin, New York, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, L.A. and San Francisco, economic developer JobsOhio has embarked on a $50 million advertising campaign to spread a message: Ohio is also a great place to live and operate a business, only it’s a lot cheaper than where you are. “Keep Austin Weird,” says a billboard in that […]
That’s privileged: Medicaid won’t say what it did to justify denying records
By: Marty Schladen - April 7, 2022
The Ohio Department of Medicaid is denying public access to oversight reports submitted by its billion-dollar managed-care contractors. But it won’t describe the process it used in determining that information in the reports qualifies as trade secrets. That information is privileged, said a spokeswoman for the department, which claims to value transparency. Even though some […]
Ohio Secretary of State says he didn’t call for Supreme Court chief’s ouster
By: Marty Schladen - April 6, 2022
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Tuesday denied that he had called for the impeachment of Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor after she had repeatedly ruled against LaRose and the rest of her fellow Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission. LaRose’s comments come four days after he told a group of Union […]
Ohio AG, governor announce $10M for solving gun crime
By: Marty Schladen - April 4, 2022
In the face of spiking gun crime, the state’s top two officials on Thursday announced a $10.5 million investment in technology and personnel to trace fugitive guns across jurisdictions. As he announced the program, Gov. Mike DeWine denied that when he signed a bill earlier this month eliminating gun-permitting requirements, he might have helped to […]
LaRose would ‘be fine with’ chief justice’s impeachment over redistricting rulings
By: Marty Schladen - April 1, 2022
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Friday said he “certainly wouldn’t oppose it” if the legislature impeached Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor over her joining in rulings rejecting GOP-generated maps for Congress and the legislature, according to a recording of a breakfast meeting with Union County Republicans. LaRose, who is not a […]
Ohio is lagging badly in some foster-care measures. Reforms suggested
By: Marty Schladen - April 1, 2022
Ohio kids who were in foster care in their late teens have had some of the worst outcomes in the United States by the time they reach 21, according to a federal survey conducted in 2018. In a report released Wednesday, Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio suggested some reforms aimed at improving those disquieting statistics. Among them […]