Ohio
September 9, 2024
Written by Debbie Silverstein, with updates by Dee Chavez, and Kurt Bateman.
State-based SP bills
HB174, the Ohio Health Care Plan that would establish universal health care coverage for all Ohio residents, was introduced 5/16/23.
Sponsors: Reps Skindell and Michele Grim
Co-sponsors Munira Abdullahi, Juanita Brent, Darnell Brewer, Richard Brown, Sedrick Denson, Elliot Forhan, Tavia Galonski, Latyna Humphrey, Dani Isaacsohn, Mary Lightbody, Lauren McNally, Adam Miller, Ismail Mohamed, Phillip Robinson, Jr., Elgin Rogers, Jr., Anita Somani, Cecil Thomas and Casey Weinstein.
SB177, the Ohio Health Care Plan that would establish universal health care coverage for all Ohio residents, was introduced 10/17/23. Chief sponsors are; Senators William (Bill) DeMora and Paula Hicks-Hudson; also Nickie J. Antonio, Hearcel F. Craig , Catherine D. Ingram, Kent Smith and Vernon Sykes. 11/15/23 Referred to Insurance Committee; 6/12/24 sponsor testimony, but also testimony from several opposition speakers with classic fact-free objections.
The history of prior SP/M4A legislation in Ohio, dating back to 2004, can be found in the OPS map archive
(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VsvPQXqtZbwCLPUSy9OeByr87uqADwmG?usp=share_link) and at the Ohio Single Payer Action website (https://spanohio.org/index.php/span-legislation/our-bills-ohio-legis).
Related legislation (pending)
N/A
Obstacles to SP in the current context
Lack of support from either political party; no spine in our legislators
Historical context” We did have proponent testimony on our bill in the last session. The chairman of the committee, a very conservative Republican, was enthused by our bill and especially by the testimony of Jerry Friedman and Dave Steil. The bill has since been assigned to a different committee in the hopes of stalling it.
Advantages for SP in current context
So far, eight municipalities have passed “Public Citizen (https://www.medicare4allresolutions.org/)” Resolutions in favor of Medicare for All.
Cleveland City Council; Cleveland Heights City Council; Dayton City Commission; Kent City Council; Lakewood City Council; Lucas County Board of Commissioners; Newburgh Heights City Council; Toledo City Council
An economic Impact Study (https://hcfao.org/images/Ohio-Economic-Impact-Study-FINAL-Revision.pdf) was performed by Gerald Friedman of University of Massachusetts Amherst, and is available on line.
Goals for SP movement in CA 2023-2024
To move our bill forward in the Ohio legislature.
Also working on national bill: trying to get our Representatives to co-sponsor HR 3421, the successor to HR 1976 and our Senators to co-sponsor, S 1655, the new bill in that chamber.
Shorter-term initiatives
We are planning a Lobby Day to inform and educate legislators.
Where can people find news about Single Payer in your state and/or join a group?
OH Organizations
State-based SP organizations
SP Action Network Ohio (SPAN) http://www.spanohio.org/
Healthcare for All Ohioans (https://hcfao.org/) is the education arm of SPAN Ohio.
SNaHP chapters (Students for a National Health Plan, affiliate of PNHP) are active at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and NeoMed in Kent.
National SP organizations with significant presence
Healthcare-NOW! https://www.healthcare-now.org/