05/29/2025

Federal Cuts, Internal Command Center the Focus of ODA Stakeholder Meeting

Last week, LeadingAge Ohio joined other aging network partners in meeting with the leadership team with the Ohio Department of Aging to dialogue about the state of aging services. The conversation included the following updates: 

• ODA continues to track the federal budget reconciliation process closely, as well as the Trump Administration’s reduction in force (RIF) efforts. Of particular concern are threats to the long-term care ombudsman program and to Medicaid funding. In particular, advocates articulated the “timing” issue with the current SFY 2026-2027 Ohio budget relying on hospital franchise fees. These same fees may be capped, should the federal reconciliation bill pass first. Currently, the federal bill is set to pass ahead of Ohio’s state operating budget. 
• The Department is engaged with the Health Policy Institute of Ohio to complete its State Plan on Aging, a requirement of the Older Americans Act. Currently, HPIO and ODA is meeting with stakeholders and a statewide schedule of listening sessions has been established (see above). 
• The Department confirmed concerns that the funding for the Personal Needs Allowance (PNA) included in the House-passed state budget appears insufficient to include home- and community-based services, including assisted living waiver. LeadingAge Ohio is working to confirm this with the Department of Medicaid, and advocating for equity across long-term services and supports. 
• The Internal Command Center (ICC) was toured by stakeholders, who were able to see existing modules for Ohio’s nursing homes and assisted living. The Command Center includes 22 million data points across over 200 metrics for all of Ohio’s 1,700 nursing homes and assisted living communities. The Department confirmed that the next provider types to be targeted is Ohio’s PACE operators, with launch for that module anticipated this summer, ahead of the opening of several PACE sites. 

When asked whether provider associations may have access to the capabilities of the ICC, ODA shared plans to distributed “push” reports from the system for the associations to use. 

Members are always encouraged to elevate questions for Ohio’s administrative agencies by sending them to Eli Faes, Director of Public Policy at efaes@leadingageohio.org.