Ohio Veterans’ Health Care System proposed

A bill to create an Ohio Veterans’ Health Care System  was introduced by in the Ohio House yesterday by Representative Lynn Wachtmann “to provide eligible veterans with comprehensive health care services, including health, medical, hospital, dental, and surgical benefits.”

  The program would to provide veterans who are eligible for benefits under Medicaid, to instead be provided  health care insurance through this veterans health care program. When the Ohio veterans health care system becomes operational, veterans receiving health care benefits under the medicaid program will instead  be transferred to and enrolled in the Ohio veterans health care system.

  Principal with the bill -- Sec. 5902.20(C) would provide that “the director of veterans services, in consultation with the superintendent of insurance, the director of administrative services, and the director of job and family services, select the structure of the system from one of the following three options:

 (1) A state subsidized comprehensive health care plan provided by an insurance company authorized to do business in this state;

(2) A state subsidized high deductible health care plan provided by an insurance company authorized to do business in this state, to be provided in conjunction with an obligation for the state to make periodic direct deposits into an individual health savings account, established by the veteran, which qualifies under Section 223 of the Internal Revenue Code; or

      (3) A voucher program that grants subsidies to            eligible veterans for purchasing private health            insurance under the Patient Protection and                Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148,                    124 Stat. 119, through its health insurance                  marketplace exchange to the extent not                      otherwise  subsidized under the Patient                       Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Text of HB 353