Ohio Unveils New Tool to Look at Uninsured

The Ohio Department of Insurance and partner organizations the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the Free Clinics Association, Access Health Columbus, St. Vincent Charity Hospital and The Academy of Medicine of Cleveland and Northern Ohio (AMCNO) is taking the Choosing Healthplans All Together (CHAT) research tool across the state to gather data about the uninsured’s decision-making process regarding health coverage, Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson announced.

The computer simulation program, CHAT, was developed by physician ethicists at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Michigan. Participants are faced with making choices about health benefits packages with limited resources.

“The information gathered from the community CHAT sessions will provide valuable information on consumer views regarding health coverage reforms in Ohio,” Director Hudson said.

The Department and other stakeholders are playing a crucial role in Governor Strickland’s call to decrease the number of uninsured Ohioans by 500,000 by 2011, and to provide affordable health insurance for every Ohio child and for more small business employees.

A 12-member team of officials from the state, the Ohio General Assembly and stakeholder groups is currently working through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s program called the State Coverage Initiative (SCI). The SCI team will make the final health coverage reform recommendations to the Governor. In addition, the 42-member advisory committee recently gave its recommendations to the SCI team on how to reform health coverage in the state. The Department will be reporting the results of the CHAT sessions to the SCI team.

“There has also been a tremendous contribution of ideas from stakeholder groups,” Hudson said. “Consumer advocates, doctors/providers, labor, business, hospitals, patients, insurers, insurance agents and government have shared information that will shape the final plan to cover Ohio’s uninsured residents.”

The Department is also working with economic and actuarial analysts, who are currently finishing an actuarial study to provide more data about how Ohio should cover its uninsured citizens. The analysts are also reviewing the reform proposals.