Schaffer Amends Numerous Public Benefits Reforms in State Operating Budget

COLUMBUS - State Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) announced the passage of House Bill 33, the state operating budget, by the Ohio Senate including the most comprehensive public benefits reforms in Ohio history.

“I want to thank President Matt Huffman and Senate Finance Chairman Matt Dolan, as well as the rest of my colleagues in the Senate, for joining me in supporting these common-sense reforms to our state public benefits system,” Schaffer said. “Ohio will become a national leader in eliminating fraud, healing families, and showing families that there is a better way of life by working hard and earning your own way rather than allowing the government to hold them back.”

Included in the state operating budget are 16 different provisions providing improvements in oversight and program efficiency in Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Electronic Benefit Transfer cards (SNAP EBT). Some of the latest changes to the bill include allowing the Auditor of State to audit the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) and its programs, as well as requiring the Auditor of State to Audit the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM).

Additionally, the bill includes anti-fraud measures, such as adding photo identification to SNAP EBT cards with fraud reporting information on the back of the card.  The bill also prohibits ODM from conducting post-enrollment verification of eligibility, a measure that is intended to ensure individuals not eligible for Medicaid are not enrolling in the program and defrauding taxpayers.

“I would like to quote former President Ronald Reagan in his radio address to the nation on Welfare Reform on February 15, 1986,” said Schaffer. “President Regan said: ‘We're in danger of creating a permanent culture of poverty as inescapable as any chain or bond; a second and separate America, an America of lost dreams and stunted lives. The irony is that misguided welfare programs instituted in the name of compassion have actually helped turn a shrinking problem into a national tragedy.’”

Schaffer added, “We have to get government out of the way and allow families to grow and live the American Dream and pursue personal and economic freedom.  With these reforms, we can make a truly meaningful impact in helping Ohioans achieve their fullest potential.”

Below is a brief summary of the reforms included in the state operating budget:

• Requires ODJFS to compile and deliver a quarterly report of various SNAP transactions to the General Assembly
• Prohibits the ODJFS from seeking an exemption from SNAP work requirements that apply to able-bodied adults without dependents
• Requires individuals 16-59 to participate in Ohio's employment and training program as a condition of eligibility for SNAP benefits
• Requires an individual receiving SNAP benefits who is party to a child support order to provide their contact information to ODJFS and disqualifies them if they fail to do so
• Prohibits ODJFS from replacing an EBT card of a household that requests four or more within a twelve-month period unless certain circumstances have occurred
• Prohibits the amount of available funds on a SNAP electronic benefits transfer card from exceeding $2,000. Specifies that if a card is unused or contains a balance of $2,000 for a period of six months, ODJFS is required to deactivate the card with notice of intent of deactivation.
• Requires ODJFS to immediately deactivate a SNAP EBT card upon notification that the card has been reported as lost, stolen, or damaged
• Requires the ODM to implement a corrective action plan for each provider that is qualified to make Medicaid presumptive eligibility determinations, if their error rate of the determinations exceeds 7.5% in a month
• Permits the BMV to provide an individual’s photograph to ODJFS to include on the SNAP benefit cards
• Requires that ODJFS add both a color photo of at least one adult member of the SNAP household and a phone number to report suspected benefit fraud to SNAP benefit cards used.
• Exempts from the photo requirement SNAP households without an adult member and SNAP households where all adults are either age 60 or older, blind, disabled, victims of domestic violence, or have religious objections to being photographed
• Prohibits a third-party vendor from conducting pre-screening activities for SNAP eligibility unless the vendor has entered into an agreement with ODJFS
• Adds provisions that require ODJFS to establish a dashboard of training for students and young adults at no cost and make the dashboard available on the OhioMeansJobs website
• Permits the Auditor to audit JFS and any JFS program and to charge JFS for the cost of the audits
• Permits the Auditor to audit Medicaid or any Medicaid program, makes provisions for Medicaid to pay for the audits, and requires the Auditor to periodically report their findings to Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee
• Prohibits ODM from conducting post-enrollment verification of eligibility, designating itself as a qualified health entity for the purpose of making presumptive eligibility determinations

House Bill 33 will return to the Ohio House of Representatives for further consideration.