Columbus, OH – A new policy brief, Policy Solutions for the Pandemic: How Ohio Can Fight the Impact of Coronavirus, released Monday by The Buckeye Institute, outlines immediate actions Ohio policymakers can take to ensure Ohio is ready to fight and recover from the pandemic. The recommendations focus on policies to boost Ohio’s health care system and support Ohio’s workers, small businesses, and the economy.

“As the coronavirus pandemic threatens to overwhelm economies and health care systems, Ohio’s policymakers must continue to act swiftly and boldly to protect citizens from the COVID-19 virus and its pernicious economic effects,” said Rea S. Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute and vice president of policy. “To assist policymakers, The Buckeye Institute has outlined solutions that will strengthen Ohio’s health care system and provide for families and businesses facing unexpected economic hardship.”

The paper outlines five recommendations that policymakers can immediately take to help Ohio’s health care system fight the COVID-19 pandemic:

• Universally recognize out-of-state medical licenses;
• Join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact;  
• Require price transparency for testing and treatment;
• Utilize medical and nursing students to support doctors and nurses fighting the disease; and 
• Authorize pharmacists to treat common illnesses and prescribe necessary medication to ease the increasing strain on the state’s health care system.

The paper also outlines four recommendations that policymakers can take to inoculate Ohio from the worst economic impacts:

• Avoid tax increases and tax law changes that will deprive businesses and families of the money they need to make ends meet;
• Reprioritize government spending to better manage the COVID-19 crisis; 
• Request federal support for state unemployment benefits and request an interest-free loan from the federal government to cover funding for the state unemployment insurance trust fund; and 
• Request federal benefits and daycare for hourly workers so workers with children don’t have to choose between financially providing for their families or staying home with their kids.

Policy Solutions for the Pandemic was authored by Rea S. Hederman Jr.; Andrew J. Kidd, Ph.D., economist at the Economic Research Center; Lukas Spitzwieser, economic policy analyst at the Economic Research Center; and James B. Woodward, Ph.D., economic research analyst at the Economic Research Center.

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