Ohio Officials Show No Grace

By DON ROLLINS

In popular theory America is the land of second chances. We all screw up goes the narrative, but here we accept that we are one and all flawed works in progress, stumbling along life’s path in search of our better selves.

In keeping with this neo-Puritan view of human nature, we embrace — at least in the abstract — a secular gospel in which the genuinely reformed will be restored to some measure of society’s good graces.

But in keeping with Dylan’s borrowed observation (Steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king), American-style mercy is shot through with class privilege, covert and in plain sight: the story of us is rife with backslidden politicians, religious figures, athletes and other luminaries that were extended cheap grace, while similarly wayward but repentant regular folk languished in debtors’ prisons or more recently, were denied the right to vote.

Sadly, history is not history when it comes to caste-based forgiveness. Look no further than Ohio, where state Medicaid administrators (backed by “moderate” Republican Gov. John Kasich) are enforcing a rule requiring all substance abuse agencies accepting Medicaid to deny employment to anyone previously incarcerated — starting with current employees, some of whom haven’t so much as racked up a parking ticket since the Reagan administration.

Given Ohio’s dubious status as the state with the most opioid-related deaths, the move to purge treatment programs of some of their best personnel is yet another instance of governmental insanity in the name of reform. Studies long ago confirmed the intuitive assumption that those who themselves once abused or were addicted to illicit drugs display greater empathy for their clients’ struggles. A blanket dismissal of these uniquely situated professionals flies in the face of the evidence-based strategies most politicians otherwise embrace.

The rationale for the rule is as misguided as its consequences are lethal. When pressed for the reasons behind the policy, Ohio Department of Medicaid press secretary, Tom Betti, cited the safety of Medicaid consumers when exposed to ex-offenders in the course of treatment, as well as the need to “allow more qualified providers into the program …”

Betti signaled an even wider war on those with a criminal past, including in the crackdown “… physicians, dentists, nurses, advanced practice registered nurses and any other individuals seeking a Medicaid provider agreement.” In other words, all helping professionals who’ve decided to make their vocation an act of personal atonement.

A series of pro-forma hearings on the policy were held in Columbus in mid-September, wherein seasoned counselors testified to the devastating outcomes sure to result from the required firings; but given a lame duck legislature, there’s little impetus to extend the deadline for workers’ waiver requests beyond Oct. 1, the designated date.

By enforcing one of the most senselessly vindictive statutes in recent times, Ohio’s elitist Medicaid administrators (and conservative statehouse enablers) have conspired to punish everyday people who have earned another shot at a better life. And in the process, taken away the best role models for how make the best of that opportunity.

Don Rollins is a Unitarian Universalist minister and substance abuse counselor living in Pittsburgh, Pa. Email donaldlrollins@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, October 15, 2018

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