OLRS 2008 Annual Report
OLRS Successfully Appeals MBI Decision

Crisi Warner is a drafting technician, a job she loves. Her group of technicians and engineers produce road and bridge plans. Warner could not work full-time because she could not afford the payments she had to make to keep Medicaid coverage. George Cronheim, staff attorney at OLRS, won an administrative appeal, and Warner is now enrolled in the Medicaid Buy-In for Workers with Disabilities (MBI-WD) program. She now works full-time because her Medicaid premiums are affordable.

Problems with keeping Medicaid coverage surfaced shortly after Warner finished college eight years ago and was hired full-time. During her annual Medicaid review, Warner was informed that, because of her income, she had to pay a patient liability. Warner, who is paid twice a month said, "The State got one paycheck, and I got one." Her take home pay was exactly the amount that Social Security would have paid her in disability income to stay at home.

Warner and her husband could not afford the Medicaid liability payments, and she was forced to ask her employer if she could work part-time. Her employer agreed to the accommodation, although both the employee and employer preferred that she work full-time.

She used her spare time to advocate with legislators to pass the Medicaid Buy-In program so that people like her, who wanted to work, could keep critical Medicaid coverage. Warner testified before the Senate Finance Committee, and has been active with the Olmstead Task Force. MBI-WD became a reality on April 1, 2008.

Warner was among the first applicants for the MBI-WD program. After being told she was eligible, she was later denied because her husband's assets were wrongly counted. Warner asked for representation from OLRS. Cronheim represented her at a Medicaid hearing and argued that spousal resources, according to state agency Medicaid rules, are not counted when determining MBI-WD eligibility. However, the hearing officer upheld the decision to deny the application.

OLRS appealed the hearing officer's decision, and the administrative appeal officer agreed that only the individual’s resources are considered when determining resource eligibility. Warner says that Cronheim did "an absolutely phenomenal job. For a lay person like me to weed through the jargon, I don't think I could have done it."

Warner is now employed full-time with the Ohio Department of Transportation, planning Ohio bridges and roads.

Quote from Employer

"The benefits of Crisi being full-time are her expanding role as a bridge detailer and roadway designer. Working with Crisi allows me to concentrate on the design and planning of bridge projects while she handles the drafting and details of the project. Her additional time at work has allowed the department to produce more plans and expanded her role as a project designer/detailer." — J.P. Barnhouse, P.E., Supervisor

Quote from Warner

"Medicaid had always been a very big blessing until I started employment." — Crisi Warner