Gov. Mike DeWine signed 13 bills this week, leftovers from a flurry of legislation that passed last month before lawmakers left on summer break. The group of signed bills includes one that requires the state issue cards with electronic chips to SNAP or food stamp recipients. Senate Bill 315 bill also mandates that home health care workers paid by Medicaid electronically verify when they are working with clients and when they leave.
Using mobile apps, GPS or other technology for electronic visit verification or EVV has been discussed to stop Medicaid fraud for years, said Tara Britton, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy with the Center for Community Solutions. But she said there have been issues on implementing them.
"There have been issues raised during implementation that said, 'hey, we live in a rural area, we don't have cell service or coverage.' And that makes it really hard to be specific on the times you check in and check out," Britton said in an interview. “Those have been the challenges throughout the years as we've tried to do this right, in terms of protecting taxpayers from any of their dollars going toward fraud but at the same time protecting people who need services.”
Last year Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a budget provision that mandated Medicaid claims be paid if EVV data was missing, and then expanded Medicaid EVV requirements and mandated the use of GPS in an executive order in May.
One provision that was stripped from the bill quickly after it was added was a ban on Medicaid payments for around 7,000 people caring for family members at home. That was introduced following a report in a conservative outlet of widespread fraud among home health providers in Ohio in 2024, though the state hasn’t fully confirmed or offered details. Disabled Ohioans and their advocates were outraged, saying those cuts would be devastating and could result in people ending up in expensive nursing homes. Britton said the comments shared by those who testified at committee meetings were critically important.
"Some of the advocates who very bravely came and told their stories at the Statehouse these last few weeks have shared that, what happens when you're five minutes from the end of your shift or the end of your allowable hours and someone has an emergency, or someone falls, or that's right when they need some assistance with their activities of daily living, it's really difficult to say, 'well, I'm going to check out now, but I'm going to stay,'" Britton said. "You're not going to leave someone there. So there's just some some tricky things to work out."
SB 315 will take effect in early October.
