News Releases

The Center’s 2025 Advocacy Agenda Prioritizes a Strong Healthcare System to Support Communities

The Center for Health Affairs has unveiled its 2025 advocacy agenda — detailing priorities that reflect commitment to ensuring a sustainable, innovative, and equitable healthcare system. By advocating for policies that enhance healthcare delivery, workforce sustainability, and social determinants of health, The Center strengthens its mission to improve clinical, social, and economic health through collaboration, financial sustainability, and innovation.

The Center’s agenda details the following three priorities:

1. Advocate for sustainable healthcare financing across all provider settings while ensuring fair reimbursement structures that support hospitals, community health centers, behavioral health providers, home care, and other essential healthcare organizations.

• Funding: Advocate for maintaining and improving state and federal healthcare funding.
• Efficiency: Work to reduce administrative burdens to ensure timely care and reimbursement.
• Coverage Expansion: Support expanding health coverage and addressing charity care rates.
• Access & Outomes: Focus on eliminating barriers to care and improving health outcomes regionally.

2. Advocate for policies that address workforce shortages across all healthcare sectors from hospitals to home health, long-term care, and behavioral health. Strengthen pathways into healthcare careers through education partnerships, loan forgiveness programs, and workforce development initiatives.

• Workforce Safety: Ensure the safety of healthcare workers in the region.
• Workforce Shortages: Address workforce shortages and stimulate interest in healthcare careers.
• Burnout Reduction: Tackle hospital workforce burnout through administrative reforms and well-being initiatives.

3. Advocate for advancing quality, equity, and innovation and support systemic changes for a more effective healthcare system that supports community well-being.

• Patient Safety & Cybersecurity: Safeguard patient safety and protect data from cyber threats with AI advancements.
• Social Determinants of Health: Leverage data-driven strategies and cross-sector partnerships to address social determinants of health while ensuring that healthcare providers across settings—hospitals, community clinics, behavioral health services, and long-term care—have the resources to improve population health outcome
• Integrated Health: Promote initiatives that support a more integrated and cohesive healthcare system.
• Equity in Care: Bridge gaps to ensure equitable care across all aspects of healthcare delivery.

The Center’s advocacy agenda is aligned with the priorities of the recently released American Hospital Association advocacy agenda and Premier, Inc.’s advocacy roadmap for the 119^th Congress.

Governor DeWine Outlines His Priorities for Ohio

Governor Mike DeWine’s recently released biennial executive budget proposal identifies children, workforce, communities, and Ohio’s economy as priorities, while also seeking to make state government more efficient, responsive, and cost-effective.

With a network of more than 200,000 providers, Ohio's Medicaid program facilitates access to healthcare and related community support services for more than 3 million Ohioans, including low-income parents, children, pregnant women, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. The Governor’s recommended Medicaid budget will build on previous administration work to strengthen support for mothers and babies, improve healthcare for children, and improve critical behavioral health services for Ohioans. While The Center is concerned with the impact of changes to the 340B program, we are pleased that the reimbursement rates to providers are maintained.

The Governor’s budget also proposes work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The proposal, which require a federal waiver, would apply to the Medicaid expansion population and stipulate that Medicaid enrollees must work unless they are over age 55, enrolled in school or an occupational training program, participating in an alcohol and drug addiction treatment program, or have intensive healthcare needs or serious mental illness. The Center for Community Solutions estimates up to 450,000 Ohioans could be at risk of losing coverage under such a waiver.

Additional provisions in the governor’s proposal include:

• An increase in Ohio’s tax rate on recreational marijuana from 10% to 20%, and a cigarette tax increase of $1.50. The budget directs the proceeds to county jails, police training, and mental health initiatives, among other things.
• New grant funding to support the critical work of Ohio’s law enforcement drug task forces, which have gained national attention for their community engagement strategies that help support recovery, in addition to their work removing drugs and traffickers from the streets. For the past two years, overdose deaths in Ohio have decreased substantially, due in part to the actions of these task forces.
• Continued investment in 988 — the three-digit phone number that connects callers to the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. DeWine’s budget will allow the Lifeline to provide help to anyone experiencing mental health distress. Lifeline has received more than 440,000 calls, texts and chats to date.

Congressional Activity

In December, Congress passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through March 14 and extend key healthcare provisions through the end of March. Congressional action is needed once again to fund the government and ensure long-term stability for these critical healthcare programs.

• The Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) program provides essential financial assistance to hospitals that care for our nation’s most vulnerable populations — children, the impoverished, disabled and elderly. Without congressional action, billions in cuts would take effect April 1.
• The enhanced low-volume adjustment and Medicare-dependent hospital programs provide rural, geographically isolated and low-volume hospitals with additional financial support to ensure rural residents have access to care. Without congressional action, these programs will expire on April 1.
• Congress has extended telehealth waivers and the hospital-at-home program through March 31, but additional action is needed.

At the same time, House and Senate Republicans are planning a strategy to use the budget reconciliation process to accomplish some of their legislative priorities, and Congress must raise the debt ceiling in the coming months. As part of these strategies, they are considering proposals that would reduce funding for hospital care, including reductions to the Medicaid program, jeopardizing access to care. 

• Congress is considering several bills that would impose billions in Medicare site-neutral payment reductions for services provided in hospital outpatient departments. Congress should reject site-neutral proposals because they would reduce patient access to vital healthcare services, particularly in rural and other medically underserved communities.
• For more than 30 years, the 340B Drug Pricing Program has provided financial help to hospitals serving vulnerable communities to manage rising prescription drug costs. Congress should protect the 340B program for all providers and ensure the program continues to help stretch limited resources and provide more comprehensive services to more patients.

On Jan. 28, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Todd Young (R-IN), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) introduced bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, a law passed in 2022 that helps prevent suicide, burnout, and mental and behavioral health conditions among healthcare professionals and has provided $100 million in funding for mental healthcare providers across the nation. This bill would also reauthorize a national campaign that provides hospital leaders with evidence-based solutions to support worker well-being.

On Feb. 6, the House of Representatives passed the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act, or the HALT Fentanyl Act. This legislation would make permanent the current temporary Schedule I category for fentanyl, or anything mixed with it. The temporary status is set to expire in March. Without it, law enforcement cannot efficiently carry out their duties to keep these lethal drugs out of our communities.

View The Center’s most recent Policy Points video, which provides a brief high-level summary state and federal policy priorities and activities.