Medicaid Waiver Application, First Responder Safety, Essential Job Openings

MEDICAID WAIVER APPLICATION:

In addition to previous emergency measures taken by the Ohio Department of Medicaid to help increase access to healthcare for millions of Ohioans, Governor DeWine announced today that his administration is submitting its first waiver application to the federal government, known as 1135 or Appendix K, to provide the needed flexibility to address this crisis.

This waiver will allow Ohio to:

Bolster the use of telehealth and other technology for health assessments and care planning;
Waive signature requirements for a variety of providers to ensure safe distancing without compromising access to care;
Ease obstacles to access nursing home care;
Allow services to be provided at alternative locations; and
Remove staffing-level requirements to give providers more flexibility.

FIRST RESPONDER SAFETY:

Dr. Amy Acton announced that a new order has been issued that requires local health departments to provide to their jurisdictions' dispatch agency or agencies the names and addresses of COVID-19-positive individuals.

Dispatch agencies are required to keep this information confidential.

ESSENTIAL JOBS:

Lt. Governor Jon Husted announced that 667 critical employers have listed around 41,000 essential job openings on coronavirus.ohio.gov/jobsearch.

CURRENT OHIO DATA:

There are 7,280 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Ohio and 324 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 2,156 people have been hospitalized, including 654 admissions to intensive care units. In-depth data can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov.