Our Work

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio has released a new report titled “Leveraging Medicaid to Support Housing and Nutrition in Ohio.”

In recognition of the health impacts and costs of unmet socials needs, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2023 began offering additional opportunities to state Medicaid programs to pay for a discrete set of housing and nutrition services.

The report highlights that many Many Ohioans have unmet health-related social needs. For example, 14.1% of Ohioans are food insecure, meaning they lack consistent access to enough food for every person in the household to live an active, as displayed above.

The purpose of the new HPIO report is to provide state and local partners across Ohio with:

• An overview of the Ohio Medicaid program, a description of the federal Medicaid health-related social needs (HRSN) framework and examples of the relevant programs operating in Ohio

• Information about options for covering clinically appropriate, evidence-based housing and nutrition services through the Medicaid program

• Opportunities and challenges associated with financing housing and nutrition services through the Medicaid program

• Next steps for policymakers, health sector leaders, community-based organizations and philanthropic funders to support the financing of HRSN services through Medicaid

To inform this report, HPIO collected information about potentially Medicaid-reimbursable housing and nutrition services in Ohio and conducted a series of 10 key informant interviews with state and national experts. The report lays a foundation for considering the opportunities for Ohio to leverage Medicaid reimbursement for services that address unmet housing and nutrition needs.

September is Suicide Prevention Month and in July, Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill designating Sept. 22 as Veterans Suicide Awareness and Prevention Day.

HPIO analysis of Veterans Administration data found that the suicide rate for veterans in 2021 was nearly 80% higher than Ohio overall, as illustrated above. Data also shows that veteran suicides are more often completed using a firearm. The VA data found that the veteran suicide rate in Ohio is about the same as the national veteran suicide rate, but is significantly higher than the national general population suicide rate.

“Suicide among Veterans is at a crisis level,” according to the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation (OSPF). “Though we’ve come a long way in learning how to recognize the signs and what to do to help, we need to step up the effort to integrate suicide prevention practices within post-service culture, connect those in need to life-saving resources, and improve access to mental health care.”

To learn more about suicide prevention for veterans, visit OSPF’s website.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org 24/7 for free and confidential support.

September is Hunger Action Month and new data analysis from HPIO shows that nearly 30% of Black Ohioans and one in four Latino Ohioans were food insecure in 2022.

Access to healthy food is a major contributor to overall health. Factors like discrimination and poverty can cause barriers to opportunity, such as an inability to access healthy food.

Data from Feeding America found that an estimated 1,653,610 Ohioans were food insecure in 2022. As illustrated above, there is a large racial disparity in food access in Ohio. The 2024 Health Value Dashboard found that Ohio ranks in the bottom half of states and D.C. (34th) in food access and food insecurity.

Later this month, HPIO will release a new report on how new federal opportunities in the Medicaid program can be leveraged by state and local partners to support housing and nutrition services in Ohio.