Health Care
DeWine says his administration wants ideas about how to help distressed Ohioans
Ohio Go.v Mike DeWine says he's focused on helping low-income and minority Ohioans through coconavirus crisis.
Ohio GOP reps introduce latest bill to weaken health department powers
Two Republicans in the Ohio House of Representatives have introduced another bill to weaken the Ohio Department of Health’s ability to issue public health orders during the pandemic. Its chance of passage is doubtful, given the laundry list of similar efforts that have either stalled out or been vetoed by the governor. GOP Reps. Susan […]
Controlling Board gets update on absentee ballots, approved education, COVID-19 testing funding
The state’s controlling board has designated money for schools, election boards and COVID-19 testing, but members of those departments spent most of their time Monday answering questions on future plans. In their regular meeting, the legislative body that distributes funding to governmental entities approved funding to train election precinct officials, and the distribution of CARES […]
Reopening begins for Ohio’s colleges: Here’s how it looks
Some of Ohio’s colleges and universities have begun moving students in, but the navigation of a school year amid a pandemic is still a balancing act. For Miami University, classes began this week, with all undergraduate courses online or remote. The plan is to keep it that way until at least Sept. 21, according to […]
DeWine says coronavirus fight has to take priority over safety net
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday said that with limited resources, he'd have to prioritize fighting the disease over helping low-income Ohioans facing increasingly desperate circumstances. Some advocates for the poor said, however, said that is a false choice; that the more unstable vulnerable Ohioans become, the tougher it will be to check the spread of COVID-19.
Inside the 19-year-old database tracking COVID-19 in Ohio
When the Ohio Disease Reporting System began tracking contagion in the Buckeye State, Harry Potter hadn’t yet made it to the big screen and people listened to music on CD players. Clinical labs, local health departments and Ohio hospitals pour data on the more than 112,000 COVID-19 cases in the state into ODRS, which makes […]
Without federal unemployment benefit, hunger said to be looming for huge numbers of Ohioans
A top Ohio food bank official issued a stark warning Wednesday: Hundreds of thousands of Ohioans already face food insecurity and if Congress doesn't act soon, the pain might become impossible for the rest of Ohioans to ignore.
Among Ohio lawmakers, anti-vaccine views run deep
During an April video conference of one of Ohio’s prominent anti-vaccine political groups, members expressed their worries about what the legislative response to a looming COVID-19 vaccine might look like. However, they took solace in a powerful ally. The chairman of the Ohio House Health committee, Rep. Scott Lipps, R-Franklin, told members he would be […]
Are companies being sued by Ohio also bidding on new Medicaid contract?
The Ohio Department Medicaid won't say whether it will award a big contract to companies against whom the state has filed lawsuits claiming the companies ripped off state agencies in transactions involving prescription drugs.
‘Let’s just feed our kids’: Advocates press to extend federal aid for school meals
WASHINGTON — A school nutrition leader in Virginia is calling on the federal government to extend a summer meals program to support hungry kids as schools reopen this fall. “One of our primary needs at this point is to try to maintain the summer food service,” Larry Wade Sr., director of school nutrition services for […]
Ohio economists say mask mandate is well worth doing
Ohio economists say mask mandate is well worth doing
Minority Strike Force issues final report on racial inequities, presents recommendations
Ohio’s Minority Strike Force released their final report, which laid out how disproportionate the health care and economic lives of people of color are across the state, and laid out ways to deal with it. The strike force was empaneled to collect information on COVID-19’s effect on African Americans and other minority populations, along with […]