Rep. Antonio Honored to Receive the 2016 Home Care & Hospice Hero Award

State Representative Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) was honored last year, to receive the 2016 Home Care & Hospice Hero Award. The Ohio Council for Home Care & Hospice (OCHCH) recently featured Representative Antonio and the work she has done for improvement and accessibility to care in their 2017 Referral Guide for Home Care & Hospice. OCHCH recognized Rep. Antonio’s legislative work during the 131^st General Assembly on the Health and Aging Committee and the Finance Subcommittee on Health and Human Services; however, the council decided to honor her due to her commitment to a constituent dealing with difficulties in her managed care plan. In their guide, OCHCH wrote:

Earlier this year, Antonio participated in a legislative home care visit hosted by First Choice Home Health Ohio, Inc. where we met with a young woman in her district who was receiving home care services. The patient was enthusiastic about her caregiver but commented that the managed care plan overseeing her case had refused to authorize a liver transplant due to the cost of the anti-rejection drugs she would need following the procedure. The denial resulted in her being taken off the transplant list even though her doctor felt she was an excellent candidate. Antonio was shocked by this and vowed to follow up with Medicaid about her case.

She subsequently called Ohio Medicaid Director (then) McCarthy who agreed that the managed care plan could not deny the authorization if it was medically necessary. Antonio followed up several times with Medicaid until the managed care plan issued the authorization that allowed the constituent to return to the transplant list. Due to her efforts the life of this individual receiving home care was positively impacted. Based on this and other efforts on her part to support home and community based care, the OCHCH Advocacy Committee would like to recognize Nickie J. Antonio with the 2016 Home Care & Hospice Hero Award.

Once again, Rep. Antonio is incredibly honored to receive this award. She encourages her constituents to contact her office if there is ever any way she can be of assistance to them. The phone number for her Columbus office is 614-466-5921 and the email is rep13@ohiohouse.gov.