BY SUSAN TEBBEN
The Ohio Redistricting Commission Thursday voted to resubmit maps to the Ohio Supreme Court that the court has already rejected as illegal and unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering.
The commission once again passed its third map 4-3 along party lines, with the exception of Republican Auditor Keith Faber, who said he voted no for the same reasons he voted against the map originally, claiming favoritism for Democrats.
Republicans voting for the maps were Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, state Sen. Rob McColley and state Rep. Jeff LaRe (sitting in for Senate President Matt Huffman and House Speaker Bob Cupp respectively).
With a U.S. District Court promising to order the third set of mapsto be put in place for the 2022 election, the commissioners saw fit to push those maps back into play, despite not one but two rejections by the state’s highest court.
Indicating the action that was forthcoming from the commission, LaRose read a two-page statement he said explained the “logistical realities” of administering an Aug. 2 primary.
He said the third map is already programmed in county boards of elections systems, which was done at his order, and he said he “would not instruct the boards to deprogram Map 3 before May 28, risking that the new map could be invalidated with no immediate options to administer a primary election.”
“Therefore, Map 3 is the only viable option to effectively administer a primary election on Aug. 2, 2022,” LaRose told the commission on Thursday.
In pushing for passage of the maps, McColley said these maps would be “only for use in the 2022 election.”
Government watchdog: Health care giants improperly denied Medicare benefits
The health care companies offering Medicare Advantage plans improperly denied services and payments at what might seem an alarming rate during a one-week test period in 2019, according to a government report released last week.
The companies — many of which are also major players in the Ohio Medicaid system — improperly denied payment 18% of the time and they incorrectly denied approval for certain medical procedures 13% of the time, the report by Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said.
In response, an industry group representing insurance giants such as Aetna, UnitedHealth and Humana claimed making health care mistakes one-sixth or one-eighth of the time isn’t so bad.
The inspector general’s “report found that nearly nine in 10 prior-authorization coverage denials were consistent with Medicare coverage rules and more than eight in 10 denials for payment requests met Medicare billing rules,” the Better Medicare Alliance said in a statement. “Moreover, (the inspector general) found that Medicare Advantage plans approve ‘the vast majority of prior authorization requests and provider payment requests.’”
In conducting the test, the inspector general set out to determine whether the companies, some of which are among the nation’s biggest, were effectively denying coverage in violation of rules set down by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. READ MORE
Congressman Tim Ryan faces off against author J.D. Vance for U.S. Senate seat
Bernie Sanders at U.S. Senate hearing rips Amazon over union opposition
Vote on abortion rights planned in U.S. Senate next week, but likely will fall short
The contentious history of Gov. DeWine and nominee Nan Whaley
