As Introduced
135th General Assembly
Regular Session S. B. No. 177
2023-2024
Senators DeMora, Hicks-Hudson
Cosponsors: Senators Antonio, Craig, Sykes, Smith, Ingram
A BILL
To amend section 109.02 and to enact sections 1
3920.01, 3920.02, 3920.03, 3920.04, 3920.05, 2
3920.06, 3920.07, 3920.08, 3920.09, 3920.10, 3
3920.11, 3920.12, 3920.13, 3920.14, 3920.15, 4
3920.21, 3920.22, 3920.23, 3920.24, 3920.25, 5
3920.26, 3920.27, 3920.28, 3920.31, 3920.32, and 6
3920.33 of the Revised Code to establish and 7
operate the Ohio Health Care Plan to provide 8
universal health care coverage to all Ohio 9
residents. 10
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 109.02 be amended and sections 11
3920.01, 3920.02, 3920.03, 3920.04, 3920.05, 3920.06, 3920.07, 12
3920.08, 3920.09, 3920.10, 3920.11, 3920.12, 3920.13, 3920.14, 13
3920.15, 3920.21, 3920.22, 3920.23, 3920.24, 3920.25, 3920.26, 14
3920.27, 3920.28, 3920.31, 3920.32, and 3920.33 of the Revised 15
Code be enacted to read as follows: 16
Sec. 109.02. The attorney general is the chief law officer 17
for the state and all its departments and shall be provided with 18
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As Introduced
adequate office space in Columbus. Except as provided in 19
division (E) of section 120.06 and in sections 3517.152 to 20
3517.157 and 3920.04 of the Revised Code, no state officer or 21
board, or head of a department or institution of the state shall 22
employ, or be represented by, other counsel or attorneys at law. 23
The attorney general shall appear for the state in the trial and 24
argument of all civil and criminal causes in the supreme court 25
in which the state is directly or indirectly interested. When 26
required by the governor or the general assembly, the attorney 27
general shall appear for the state in any court or tribunal in a 28
cause in which the state is a party, or in which the state is 29
directly interested. Upon the written request of the governor, 30
the attorney general shall prosecute any person indicted for a 31
crime. 32
Sec. 3920.01. As used in this chapter: 33
(A) "Health care facility" means any facility, except a 34
health care practitioner's office, that provides preventive, 35
diagnostic, therapeutic, acute convalescent, rehabilitation, 36
mental health, mental retardation, intermediate care, or skilled 37
nursing services. 38
(B) "Provider" means a hospital or other health care 39
facility, and a physician, podiatrist, dentist, pharmacist, 40
chiropractor, or other health care personnel, licensed, 41
certified, accredited, or otherwise authorized in this state to 42
furnish health care services. 43
Sec. 3920.02. (A)(1) There is hereby created the Ohio 44
health care plan, which shall be administered by the Ohio health 45
care agency under the direction of the Ohio health care board. 46
(2) The Ohio health care plan shall provide universal and 47
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As Introduced
affordable health care coverage for all residents of this state, 48
consisting of a comprehensive benefit package that includes 49
benefits for prescription drugs. The Ohio health care plan shall 50
work simultaneously to control health care costs, control health 51
care spending, achieve measurable improvement in health care 52
outcomes, increase all parties' satisfaction with the health 53
care system, implement policies that strengthen and improve 54
culturally and linguistically sensitive care, and develop an 55
integrated health care database to support health care planning. 56
(B) There is hereby created the Ohio health care agency. 57
The Ohio health care agency shall administer the Ohio health 58
care plan and is the sole agency authorized to accept applicable 59
grants-in-aid from the federal and state government, using the 60
funds in order to secure full compliance with provisions of 61
state and federal law and to carry out the purposes of sections 62
3920.01 to 3920.33 of the Revised Code. All grants-in-aid 63
accepted by the Ohio health care agency shall be deposited into 64
the Ohio health care fund established under section 3920.09 of 65
the Revised Code. 66
(C) Sections 101.82 and 101.83 of the Revised Code do not 67
apply to the Ohio health care agency. 68
Sec. 3920.03. (A) There is hereby created the Ohio health 69
care board. The Ohio health care board shall consist of fifteen 70
voting members, consisting of the director of health as an ex 71
officio voting member and fourteen members elected in accordance 72
with this section. 73
(B) For purposes of representation on the Ohio health care 74
board, the state shall be divided into seven regions each 75
composed of designated counties as follows: 76
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As Introduced
(1) Region 1: Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain; 77
(2) Region 2: Allen, Auglaize, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, 78
Hancock, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Mercer, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, 79
Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood; 80
(3) Region 3: Athens, Belmont, Coshocton, Gallia, 81
Guernsey, Harrison, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, 82
Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pike, Ross, 83
Scioto, Vinton, Washington; 84
(4) Region 4: Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, 85
Hamilton, Highland, Warren; 86
(5) Region 5: Crawford, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, 87
Franklin, Hardin, Knox, Licking, Logan, Madison, Marion, Morrow, 88
Pickaway, Union, Wyandot; 89
(6) Region 6: Ashland, Carroll, Columbiana, Holmes, 90
Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, 91
Tuscarawas, Wayne; 92
(7) Region 7: Champaign, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, 93
Montgomery, Preble, Shelby. 94
(C)(1) The health commissioner of the most populous county 95
in each region shall convene a meeting of all county and city 96
health commissioners in the region within ninety days following 97
the effective date of this section. If there are two or more 98
health districts located wholly or partially in the most 99
populous county of the region, the health commissioner of the 100
health district with the largest territorial jurisdiction in 101
that county shall convene the meeting of all county and city 102
health commissioners within ninety days following the effective 103
date of this section. 104
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(2) At the meeting called pursuant to division (C)(1) of 105
this section, the county and city health commissioners in each 106
region shall elect one resident from each county in the region 107
to represent the county on a regional health advisory committee 108
established for that region. The county and city health 109
commissioners also shall set a date, not sooner than one hundred 110
days and not later than one hundred ten days after the effective 111
date of this section, for the initial meeting of the regional 112
health advisory committee. 113
(3) Following the initial meetings of county and city 114
health commissioners called pursuant to division (C)(1) of this 115
section, the county and city health commissioners in each region 116
shall convene a meeting every two years to elect representatives 117
to the regional health advisory committee in accordance with 118
division (C) of this section. Each biennial meeting shall be 119
held within five days of the same day of the same month as the 120
initial meeting. 121
(4) Each representative elected under division (C) of this 122
section shall hold office for two years, starting on the date of 123
the representative's election. Any individual appointed to fill 124
a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for 125
which a representative is elected shall hold office for the 126
remainder of the predecessor's term. 127
(D)(1) At its initial meeting on the date set pursuant to 128
division (C)(2) of this section, each regional health advisory 129
committee shall elect a chairperson from among the 130
representatives to the committee. At the initial meeting, each 131
committee's representatives shall elect two residents from the 132
region to represent that region as members of the Ohio health 133
care board. One of the two residents elected from each region to 134
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serve on the Ohio health care board shall be a resident of the 135
region's most populous county and the other shall be a resident 136
of any county in the region other than the region's most 137
populous county. 138
Except for the elections to the Ohio health care board at 139
the initial meeting of each regional health advisory committee, 140
each resident elected to the board shall be elected to a two- 141
year term of office. At the initial meeting, the resident from 142
the most populous county in the region shall be elected to a 143
term of three years. 144
(2) Annually, beginning in the second year following the 145
initial elections to the Ohio health care board, the chairperson 146
of each regional health advisory committee shall convene a 147
meeting within five calendar days of the same date of the same 148
month as the initial meeting of that regional health advisory 149
committee to elect a resident from the region to serve as a 150
member of the Ohio health care board. The regional health 151
advisory committee shall elect a resident of a county as is 152
necessary to meet the representation requirements set by 153
division (D)(1) of this section. No individual may serve as a 154
member of the Ohio health care board for more than four 155
consecutive terms. 156
(3) In addition to meeting for the election of Ohio health 157
care board members, each regional health advisory committee 158
shall meet as necessary to fulfill any functions and 159
responsibilities assigned under sections 3920.01 to 3920.15 of 160
the Revised Code. With the exception of the initial meeting 161
described in division (D)(1) of this section, each meeting shall 162
be held at the call of the chairperson and as may be provided by 163
procedures adopted by the regional health advisory committee. 164
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(E)(1) The director of health shall set the time, place, 165
and date for the initial meeting of the Ohio health care board 166
and shall preside over the Ohio health care board's initial 167
meeting. The initial meeting shall be set not sooner than one 168
hundred fifteen days and not later than one hundred twenty-five 169
days after the effective date of this section. 170
(2) The members of the Ohio health care board annually 171
shall elect a member of the board to serve as chairperson at 172
meetings of the board. Meetings shall be held upon the call of 173
the chairperson and as provided by procedures prescribed by the 174
Ohio health care board. Two-thirds of the members of the Ohio 175
health care board shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of 176
business at meetings of the board. Decisions at meetings of the 177
Ohio health care board shall be reached by majority vote of 178
those present. 179
(3) All meetings of the Ohio health care board are open to 180
the public unless questions of patient confidentiality arise. 181
The Ohio health care board may go into closed executive session 182
with regard to issues related to confidential patient 183
information. The fourteen members of the Ohio health care board 184
elected by the regional health advisory committees shall receive 185
an annual salary and benefits established in accordance with 186
division (J) of section 124.15 of the Revised Code. 187
(F) The seven regional health advisory committees shall 188
act as advisory bodies to the Ohio health care board, 189
representing their individual regions. The regional health 190
advisory committees shall oversee the management of consumer and 191
provider complaints originating in their respective regions and 192
shall hold a hearing on all such complaints. The regional health 193
advisory committees shall offer assistance to resolve consumer 194
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and provider disputes and shall seek the agreement of all 195
parties to the dispute to submit the dispute to negotiation or 196
binding arbitration. A regional health advisory committee shall 197
transfer any dispute that is not resolved at the regional level 198
to the director of the Ohio health care agency's department of 199
consumer affairs within six months of the filing of the 200
complaint; however, the committee may vote to transfer 201
individual disputes at an earlier date. 202
(G)(1) If a vacancy occurs on the Ohio health care board 203
for any reason, resulting in a region being without full 204
representation on the board, that region's health advisory 205
committee shall elect a resident of that region to fill the 206
vacancy. Any resident elected to fill a vacancy shall serve the 207
remainder of the departing member's term. The health advisory 208
committee shall elect a resident of a county as necessary to 209
meet the representation requirements set by division (D)(1) of 210
this section. 211
(2) A serving member of the Ohio health care board shall 212
continue to serve following the expiration of their term until a 213
successor takes office or a period of ninety days has elapsed, 214
whichever occurs first. 215
(H)(1) The members and staff of the Ohio health care board 216
and employees of the Ohio health care agency, and their 217
immediate families, are prohibited from having any pecuniary 218
interest in any business with a contract, or in negotiation for 219
a contract, with eith