CDF-Ohio > Ohio Initiatives: Health

Ohio Initiatives: Health

Children's Defense Fund-Ohio supports statewide efforts that help children and families gain access to quality, comprehensive health care services.

According to the most recent data, one million children and 490,000 parents receive health insurance coverage through Healthy Start/Healthy Families, Ohio’s Medicaid program.  By most accounts, these are families that work, are not offered insurance through their employers and cannot afford individual coverage. However, there are still hundreds of thousands of children in Ohio who do not possess healthcare coverage.

Resources: Learn More and Take Action

Real Stories of Uninsured Children

Existing Ohio Health Care Program

Resources: Learn More and Take Action

CDF-Ohio Covering All Children in 2007 Materials:

• Story Bank Form (PDF) - Tell Us Your Story
• Endorsement Form (PDF) - Support Health Coverage for All Children
• Petition (PDF) - Gather Signatures of Your Community's Support
• Covering ALL Children in 2007 - CDF's Proposal

CDF-Ohio Projects
CDF-Ohio works diligently for Ohio's children helping to ensure they are able to receive a high quality care, regardless of their geography or family income. CDF-Ohio has developed the following resources in addressing the need for Healthy Start Healthy Families for the uninsured:

Promising Practices (PDF)- Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this book emphasizes activities and initiatives that showed promise in enrolling children into Healthy Start Healthy Families by focusing on outreach, simplification, and coordination.

Employer Tool-Kit (PDF) - Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this collection of resources educates employers about Healthy Start Healthy Families and encourages them to share the information with their employees. This effort seeks to enroll eligible children who are not enrolled in the state's healthcare system.

Health Links:

• Learn more at Ohio’s Healthy Start Healthy Families website
• Download a Healthy Start Healthy Families application (PDF)
• Download Healthy Start Healthy Families Income Guidelines and Application Tips (PDF)

Back to Top

Real Stories of Uninsured Children 

Bostic Family - Marihelen, 1; Elizabeth, 5; Michael, 10; Steffie, 17, Dublin, Ohio: Six years ago, Marc Bostic was in a car accident that left his back broken and his sciatic nerve permanently damaged. After surgery in which two steel plates were inserted to hold his joints together, Marc's left leg is constantly numb below the knee and his mobility is impaired — he can't lift heavy objects,sit, stand or walk for too long and needs rest periods. Once a senior executive manager for a construction company, Marc has been in and out of jobs since the accident due to his disabilities. Getting health care coverage for his four children has been a challenge, to say the least. The Bostic's have been hindered by bureaucratic road blocks when trying to enroll in Medicaid and once enrolled were unable to get necessary medications or see the doctors and specialists that new his family's history. Marc's wife, Patti, has started a new job, but the company has a probation period that will delay them from enrolling their the children for six-months. You don't have to have an automobile accident to be in bad shape financially. A lot of working dads and moms are trying to provide all the things their families need, but some of them don't earn enough to afford private health insurance for their children yet make too much to qualify for Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program. A lot of families are just one health care disaster away from total bankruptcy.

Dakota, 12; Amanda, 11; & James, 6- Columbus, OH: Dana received notice that her children's coverage of Healthy Start Healthy Families, Ohio's Medicaid and SCHIP program, would soon end because their enrollment had yet to be re-verified. Upon learning that she would have to provide birth records for all three children, she informed her social worker that she could not afford the birth certificates which were required. [The family's income is 45% of the Federal Poverty Level] The social worker then informed Dana that there was nothing she could do until Dana submitted each child's birth certificate. Dana was unable to provide birth records and Dakota, Amanda, and James lost the medical coverage that they once had. Meanwhile, Amanda's performance in school began to dwindle and as a result her grades began to slide to below average marks. Soon Dana learned that the reason Amanda's grades has worsened was because she could not see the materials. Dana, concerned about Amanda's education, knows that Amanda needs glasses so that she may reach her full potential, yet Dana cannot afford them. Dana summed it up best when she mentioned how frustrating it was that Amanda was failing in school because Dana could not afford three birth certificates to get the Healthy Start Healthy Families coverage her children need. Make A Difference- See how you can help millions of children in America who are not insured.

Back to Top

Existing Ohio Health Care Program 

Healthy Start Healthy Families: Ohio's Health Care Program
Administered by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Healthy Start and Healthy Families offer free health coverage to qualifying families, children (up to age 19) and pregnant women. Coverage includes:

• Doctor Visits
• Hospital Care
• Pregnancy Related Services
• Prescriptions
• Vision
• Dental
• Substance Abuse
• Mental Health Services
• And More

2007 Income Guidelines for Healthy Start Healthy Families

	Parents Eligible		Pregnant Women	Children Eligible
Family Size	90% FPL	100% Standard	150% FPL	200% FPL
2	$12,321 yr/$1,026 mo	$13,690	$20,535 yr/ $1711 mo	$27,380 yr/ $2281 mo
3	$15,453 yr/$1,287 mo	$17,170	$25,755 yr/$2,146 mo	$34,340 yr/$2,861 mo
4	$18,585 yr/$1,548 mo	$20,650	$30,975 yr/$2,581 mo	$41,300 yr/$3,441 mo
5	$21,717 yr/$1,809 mo	$24,130	$36,195 yr/$3,016 mo	$48,260 yr/$4,021 mo
6	$24,849 yr/$2,070 mo	$27,610	$42,915 yr/$3,576 mo	$55,220 yr/$4,601 mo
7	$27, 981 yr/$2,331 mo	$31,090	$46,635 yr/$3,886 mo	$62,180 yr/$5,181 mo

Back to Top