Governor’s Letter

Dear Governor DeWine,

I am writing to raise concerns about the Ohio Medicaid application process for disability-based coverage.

I submitted a Medicaid application on December 29 after my prior coverage ended due to a change in income. I am a transplant recipient who relies on immunosuppressant medications. Despite timely submission of documentation, my application remained in “received” status for over a month.

I later learned that a caseworker had requested additional documentation weeks ago, but this request was never communicated to me through any notice, letter, or portal task. It existed only as an internal note. As a result, my case stalled without my knowledge or ability to respond.

Throughout this process, I received conflicting guidance from different representatives, experienced repeated portal upload failures, and faced phone wait times exceeding an hour — including nearly three hours on the phone in a single day.

These systemic issues create serious risks for medically vulnerable Ohioans. Medicaid delays directly affect access to life-sustaining medications and continuity of care.

I respectfully urge your office to review Medicaid communication practices, portal reliability, and access to timely assistance for disability-related applications.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth ‘Zee’ Holmquist
Columbus, Ohio