Ohio governor and legislature study how to cover the uninsured

The Columbus Dispatch examines ways in which Ohio's governor and legislature hope to expand health insurance coverage to uninsured adults ("Renewed push in Ohio: Next up: health care for adults," August 26, 2007). Rep. Jim Raussen (R), chairman of the House Health Access and Affordability Committee, says that while people continually talk about reforming health care, the actual opportunity to do so only comes around once every 15 years or so. He thinks Ohio is reaching that "tipping point."

Gov. Ted Strickland (D) said he also wants to work toward "reducing the 1.1 million uninsured adults to half that total by 2011. We now must move forward in a bipartisan way to develop a comprehensive plan to make affordable health coverage available to all of Ohio's uninsured; to improve the cost, quality and efficiency of Ohio's health-care system; and to improve the health of all Ohioans. The fact that both Republicans and Democrats are talking about this is encouraging."

Raussen's Committee recently held a series of hearing around the state and expects a health-care reform bill in the House by the end of the year. He hopes it will become law by Memorial Day. The Ohio Business Roundtable, representing many of the state's top corporate executives, have also made this issue a priority.

The article quotes statistics from the Ohio Family Health Survey, stating that "nearly two-thirds of adults without coverage are working, but their employers don't offer benefits or they cannot afford to pay for them."