FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, February 25, 2021
CONTACT:
Lynanne Gutierrez
(614) 204-6106
Groundwork Ohio to Submit Testimony Today for Medicaid Budget Funding to Support Children, Pregnant Women and Their Families
Testimony Highlights Need for Investment in Light of COVID-19 Pandemic, Lays Out Importance of Medicaid for Children
COLUMBUS, OH -- Today, Groundwork Ohio -- the state’s leading advocacy organization focused on issues impacting the prenatal period to age five -- will submit testimony on Ohio’s FY 2022-2023 budget in support of funding for the Ohio Department of Medicaid’s services and initiatives that support pregnant women, young children and their families.
The prepared testimony of Lynanne Gutierrez, Groundwork Ohio’s Assistant Director and Legal Counsel, states,
“These investments are more important now than ever in light of the toll the once- in-a-lifetime COVID-19 pandemic has taken on our most vulnerable children… Groundwork Ohio shares a common goal with the state and the Ohio Department of Medicaid in our ongoing efforts to ensure that all our children grow up healthy and equipped to reach their full potential.”
The testimony also lays out the importance of Medicaid investments and policies that support young children.
“Focusing upstream on policies and investments on the first 1000 days of a child’s life is critical for the following reasons:
“Because children rely on Medicaid, especially in their first three years of life. Medicaid provides health care coverage for more than half of all Ohio infants and toddlers.
Because pediatric primary care is regularly accessed by families and is the only (near) universal system for reaching families in the earliest years of a child’s life.
Because, as a public program, Medicaid has an interest in reducing long-term health care expenses and expenses to other public sectors.
Because Medicaid is already one of our most effective means of improving child outcomes and it can be leveraged to do more.”
Please see the attached document for Groundwork Ohio’s full testimony to the Finance Subcommittee on Health and Human Services regarding ODM.
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Ohio Groundwork Ohio is a committed, nonpartisan public-policy research and advocacy organization formed in 2004 that champions high-quality early learning and healthy development strategies from the prenatal period to age five, that lay a strong foundation for Ohio kids, families and communities. Learn more about Groundwork Ohio at groundworkohio.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.