A controversial provision that would have banned Ohio Medicaid payments for paid family caregivers has been removed from a bill that seeks to fight fraud among home health care providers. Republican lawmakers on the House Medicaid Committee said testimony from disabled Ohioans and their advocates made them reconsider that proposal in House Bill 795.
But that change wasn’t made public until Monday morning, after about two dozen family caregivers and their advocates had come to the Statehouse for a second time to speak out about how losing those payments would affect their families.
While many thanked the committee for making the change, some let lawmakers have an earful anyway. Marlana Kendrick and her 11-year-old son, Osiah, traveled from Cleveland to testify. And she was frustrated.
“How dare you come in my house and tell me who can care for my child! I’m not standing here telling you thank you,” said Kendrick. “I drove two and a half hours from Cleveland with my son and nobody is here to help me.”
She added: “I don’t care if the bill changed. It should never have been in there is what I’m saying,”
Rep. Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) agreed on that point.
“The family caregiver piece was never part of the fraud. I’m not sure how it got in there or why it got in there, but I’m glad that it is out,” Stephens said.
The provision was added to a bill that seeks to made big changes for home health providers billing Ohio Medicaid. The changes came following a report in the conservative news outlet the Daily Wire alleging of hundreds of millions of dollars were paid by Ohio Medicaid to fraudulent home health care providers in 2024. The state has not fully confirmed that report and said the claims are being investigated. Democrats say they believe the numbers are inflated.
Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania), the sponsor of HB 795, said the ban on payments was removed after hearing testimony from dozens of disabled people and family caregivers.
The bill increases penalties for Medicaid fraud, sets new restrictions on providers and requires electronic visit verification or EVV. Stephens, who represents a rural part of Southern Ohio, said he's worried about that last part.
"We have a good portion of my district that EVV may or may not work. It depends on which side of the hill you are on and where the cell phone antenna is,” Stephens said. “So we don't want to penalize people for that type of a situation."
The House Medicaid committee is expected to take up the bill again on Tuesday.
