Ohio would require Medicaid service checks and SNAP card chips

Ohio Medicaid would require electronic records to verify covered care and medical rides before paying providers. The rules cover services subject to electronic visit verification and covered nonemergency medical rides. Ride rules exclude organizations licensed by Ohio's emergency medical, fire, and transportation services board. Home care providers would check in and out where they deliver care. Family caregivers living with the patient would be exempt from GPS checks. The home care definition excludes specified disability waiver services, assisted living, and certain other services to the extent federal law permits. High-risk home care providers would need an approved identity check, such as a secure personal code or fingerprint scan. These verification data could not be sold or distributed. Ride providers could request documented exceptions for technical failures, emergencies, or patient safety. Patients could not lose medically necessary services solely because a provider fails to use the system. The law takes effect October 6, 2026. Ride-system planning is due within six months, a pilot within 12 months, and required use within 18 months. Home care schedules would be set by rules.

Ohio Medicaid would require advance approval for specified care and check whether another insurer should pay each bill. Approval would cover all Medicaid therapeutic behavioral services and nonmedical personal care beyond a patient's written care plan. The extra-personal-care approval rule would exclude services under waivers administered by Ohio's Department of Developmental Disabilities. Personal care requests would need evidence of medical need. Patients and providers could appeal a denial. Bills would go first to another insurer found responsible for payment. Department actions based on automated findings would require human review. Medicaid eligibility would depend on federal Social Security Act section 1903(v)(5), whose covered groups are not explained in this law. The law takes effect October 6, 2026. Personal care decisions would be due within 10 business days after all needed information arrives, or within 48 hours for requests identified as urgent.

Ohio Medicaid would check provider qualifications and ownership and investigate suspicious billing. Screening would cover listed health professionals and facilities, with special inspection and address rules for home and community care providers. Providers enrolling or renewing would disclose owners with at least a 5% direct or indirect stake. Ohio would check exclusion records, other states' Medicaid sanctions, and fraud convictions. Home and community care applicants would face rejection or loss of an agreement when sharing their main address with more than six other active providers, or with another provider in less than 1,000 square feet. A suspicious rise in bills during a provider's first 60 days would require a temporary payment hold and investigation. Monthly claims growth above 100% without a matching rise in patients would require investigation. The law takes effect October 6, 2026. Qualification records would be due every 24 months, or sooner when required. Home and community care inspections would occur before enrollment and every three years.

Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services would issue SNAP cards with chips and accept online reports of suspected fraudulent transactions. These requirements cover Ohio households receiving SNAP food benefits. Every newly issued SNAP food-benefit card would have a chip. Existing cards would be replaced on the department's normal replacement schedule. The transition would begin October 6, 2026; existing cards would not all have to be replaced that day.

Ohio's insurance superintendent would collect health insurance claims in a database and set privacy and access rules. The submission requirement would cover health insurers, Medicaid health plans, Medicaid, and Medicare. Claims submission would be required only to the extent federal law permits. Rules would have to protect personal and health information. Access to claims information could require a subscription. The database would be due within one year of October 6, 2026. Health insurers would begin submitting claims January 1, 2028.