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Advocates urge Senate to restore maternal and infant health investments and preserve statewide doula coverage
Summary
Advocates from Groundwork Ohio, BI3 Fund and Policy Matters told the Senate panel that the House budget cuts to infant-vitality programs, Help Me Grow, and statewide doula coverage threaten progress on Ohio's infant-mortality improvements and asked for restoration of prior funding and continuous Medicaid coverage for young children.
Maternal- and infant-health advocates asked the Senate Medicaid Committee to preserve and restore investments they say are critical to reducing infant mortality and improving early-childhood outcomes, urging lawmakers to reverse House cuts to programs including Help Me Grow and to retain statewide doula coverage.
Caitlin Feldman of Groundwork Ohio told senators that the first three years of life are crucial to brain development and that Medicaid coverage for moms and babies helps ensure preventive care, early intervention and continuity. She said the House budget reduced Help Me Grow funding by $22.5 million in fiscal year 2027 and narrowed Medicaid doula reimbursement from statewide coverage to the six counties with the highest infant-death rates.
Jill Miller, president and CEO of the BI3 Fund in Cincinnati, described local progress in Hamilton County — where a public-private effort helped cut infant mortality to 5.5 deaths per 1,000 births — and urged restoring investments in infant-vitality programs, evidence-based home visiting and continuous Medicaid coverage for babies age 0–3.
Policy Matters and other witnesses said removing the requirement that the Department of Medicaid apply for a federal waiver to expand continuous coverage for children up to age 3 would make it harder for families to maintain coverage. "Allowing children with Medicaid to maintain their coverage regardless of household income fluctuations will give children consistent access to well-child visits, vaccinations, and specialty care," Catherine Poe said.
Witnesses asked the Senate to adopt amendments restoring Help Me Grow funding, expanding doula access statewide, and restoring the Department of Medicaid's waiver authority for continuity of coverage. The committee did not adopt those changes during the hearing.
