Ohio Medicaid covers about 3.2 million Ohioans, roughly 27% of the state population. That means about 4 out of every 15 people in Ohio depend on this system for health care.

Ohio Medicaid cannot just look good on paper. It has to work in real life.

Families are being harmed by reimbursement systems, managed care failures, provider network issues, service delays, and policies that are leaving people without adequate care. This is especially dangerous for elderly people, disabled people, medically fragile people, people with mental health needs, people in addiction recovery, and families who depend on home health care, medication management, transportation, care coordination, behavioral health care, and consistent medical access.

When care is delayed or disrupted, people can miss medication, relapse, lose stability, suffer medical crises, end up in emergency rooms, or be discharged back into unsafe situations. These are not paperwork problems. These are life and death problems.

Ohio has announced billions in Medicaid rate investments, including major 2024 rate increases affecting more than 200,000 providers. If billions of taxpayer dollars are being spent, Ohio residents deserve proof that this money is creating real access to care.

The numbers do not make sense.

Ohio housing and operating costs have risen sharply over the last decade. A home that cost around $135,000 in 2016 would compare to roughly $262,900 today, about a 95% increase. Rent that was around $750 per month compared to about $1,325 today is about a 77% increase.

Meanwhile, many Medicaid reimbursement rates have remained flat for years, increased too slowly, or still do not reflect the real cost of staffing, travel, insurance, transportation, administration, and care delivery. If providers cannot afford to participate, Medicaid members lose access.

If members lose access, families suffer. Hospitals and emergency rooms absorb the crisis. Workers burn out. Communities lose stability. People who needed support end up in worse situations that would cost taxpayers even more.

We are asking Ohio leaders to require an independent audit of Ohio Medicaid access failures, including:

-Provider network adequacy
-Reimbursement rates compared to the real cost of care
-Home health access
-Mental health and addiction treatment access
-Transportation failures
-Medication management delays
-Managed care plan performance
-Provider and vendor contract failures
-Service denials and delays
-Impact on elderly, disabled, medically fragile, and mentally vulnerable Ohioans
-Whether certain services should return to a stronger state-managed model

Ohio must also evaluate whether the current managed care model is actually serving Medicaid members or mostly creating another layer of bureaucracy. In Ohio, most Medicaid members are required to enroll in a managed care plan, meaning private insurance companies administer care under state contracts.

That may sound efficient on paper, but public-private partnerships often fail when accountability is weak, reimbursement is too low, provider networks are inaccurate, and members are left fighting between the state, the insurance plan, the provider, and the vendor.

Private companies should not be allowed to profit from Medicaid contracts while vulnerable Ohioans cannot find care, cannot get home health support, cannot access behavioral health treatment, cannot get transportation, or cannot reach a real person to fix dangerous service disruptions.

Adequate care cannot exist only in directories, contracts, press releases, and managed care reports.
Ohio Medicaid must work in real life.

Please sign this petition and ask Ohio leaders to require immediate transparency, independent review, and corrective action.