Ohio health insurance

---

status report:
Ohio state health insurance exchange

What progress is being made in setting up its federally-mandated Ohio state health insurance exchange?"

About state health insurance exchanges

---

How did Ohio officials vote on health reform?

H.R.2: Repealing the Health Care Bill

#14

Date of Vote: 1/19/2011 Status: House passed 245-189, 1 not voting

HOUSE|SENATE

1/19/2011--Passed House amended. Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act's enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act's health care provisions. [more]

Yes (13)

• Steve Austria
• John Boehner
• Steven Chabot
• Bob Gibbs
• Bill Johnson

• Jim Jordan
• Steven LaTourette
• Robert Latta
• Jim Renacci
• Jean Schmidt

• Steve Stivers
• Patrick Tiberi
• Michael Turner

Our
Pick

No (5)

• Marcia Fudge
• Marcy Kaptur
• Dennis Kucinich
• Timothy Ryan
• Betty Sutton

how healthy is living in Ohio?

Ohio is again ranked as the 34th healthiest state to live in, according to the 2010 America's Health Rankings® by the United Health Foundation.

The good news:

• Ohio reported low rates in 2010 of both occupational fatalities (3.5 deaths per 100,000 workers) and infectious diseases (8.9 cases per 100,000 members of the population).
• Smoking has declined in Ohio since five years ago, from 25.9 to 20.3 percent of the total population.

The bad news:

• Ohio has one of the lowest levels of public health funding in the nation, at $41 per individual.
• The percentage of uninsured Ohio residents increased over the past year from 11.6 to 12.9 percent.
• Ohio reports markedly high rate of deaths due to cancer (210.2 deaths per 100,000 of the population), although deaths due to cardiovascular disease have shown a significant decrease in the past ten years.
• Ohio has one of the highest levels of air pollution in the country.

Ohio's best and worst category rankings:

• Occupational fatalities – 10th
• Geographic disparity – 14th
• Infectious disease – 16th
• Cancer deaths – 42nd
• Air pollution – 47th
• Public health funding ($41 per person) – 47th

more details

• See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on Ohio.
• Trust for America's Health ia another source for key Ohio health quality findings. In addition, 2010's federal health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included the creation of a prevention fund to provide more than $16 billion over the next 10 years to invest in effective, proven prevention efforts, like childhood obesity prevention and tobacco cessation, and the site has a report on how it impacts Ohio here.

get local health results

State snapshot too large? Get county-by-county health rankings for Ohio, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

does Ohio have a health insurance high risk pool?

No, Ohio does not offer its own risk pool for its citizens who are medically uninsurable.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, Ohio started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about Ohio's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.

how to find health insurance in Ohio

Cover The Uninsured is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. Read more information on its efforts. It is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Cover The Uninsured's facts on the uninsured in Ohio and all other states.
• The Foundation for Health Coverage Education's guide on how to find health insurance in Ohio.
• Materiales En Español – Guías para encontrar cobertura de seguro de salud.

Georgetown's Ohio health insurance guide

Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute has researched and written state-by-state guides for finding and keeping health insurance. It updates these guides as federal and state policies change. A number of non-profit organizations help fund its research. Learn more about the Health Policy Institute.

Review Georgetown's guide for Ohio.

Health insurance plan report cards for Ohio

The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, non-profit organization that, among other things, provides health care plan report cards for consumers.

Go here to search for Ohio health insurance plan report cards.

Ohio government health insurance resources

State of Ohio Department of Insurance Homepage – The State of Ohio's department of insurance provides official information all types of insurance.

Ohio Shopper's Guide to Health Insurance & HMOs in PDF format – This guide describes the difference between individual and group coverage, examines Ohio's minimum coverage requirements and explains managed care plans. You will also find information on what to do if you change jobs or have a baby. We have information regarding your rights as a consumer and the responsibilities of insurance carriers conducting business in Ohio. NOTE: When last checked (2/10/08) this guide was being updated and may or may not be available at this link.

Consumer complaint ratio on different health insurance plans – A PDF document from the State of Ohio showing the ratio of consumer complaints on various health insurance plans, and more. Biggest complaints seem to be for Vantage and Physicians Mutual, neither of which are offered on this site.

Ohio Department of Health – Deals with many issues affecting health care delivery in Ohio.

Ohio HIPAA information – Describes what the State of Ohio is doing to comply with requirements of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Ohio Department of Mental Health – Each year, Ohio's community mental health systems provide services to more than 260,000 people, including 75,000 adults who are disabled by severe mental illness and 70,000 children with emotional disorders. More information at the department's Web site.

Federal government sites with specific Ohio health insurance information

National Mental Health Information Centers listing of Ohio Mental Health Resources – published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services

Ohio health insurance, health care and consumer advocacy

Health Freedom Coalition of Ohio – It's "about" page states it is dedicated to passing laws in Ohio that will protect the consumer's right to choose their own healthcare practitioner and practice.