Issue 2 might save money – or not

It is “plausible, but uncertain,” that voter approval of Issue 2 — the Drug Price Relief Act — would save Ohio taxpayers money, a new state analysis concludes.

But any savings are unlikely to extend to Medicaid health care coverage for the poor, the single largest state purchaser of prescription drugs at $2.1 billion a year, says the report by the Office of Budget and Management.

If certain conditions are met, and such a scenario is considered “unlikely” in the report, Issue 2 could translate into savings of millions of dollars on state employee insurance benefits, the Bureau of Workers’

“We’ve got a beautiful kitchen, but appliances that don’t work,” said Susan Lewis Kaylor, St. Vincent’s president and CEO. “We need commercial-grade appliances. We’ve got the equipment picked out, and we’re just waiting for the final numbers.”

Staff members hope to be able to prepare a special Thanksgiving meal for the kids in the upgraded kitchen, Kaylor said.

The preliminary tally for The Big Give, including the $1.4 million bonus pool that foundation supporters raised beforehand to proportionately boost donations, reflects a 20 percent increase over the last Big Give, in 2015. That event brought in some $15 million; the inaugural Big Give in 2011 raised $8.4 million.

Officials had been hopeful that the total would continue to grow, but no one took it for granted.

“I’m surprised and exhilarated along with everybody else,” foundation President and CEO Doug Kridler said.

He and other foundation employees and supporters unfurled banners printed with Big Give results outside the foundation offices on East Broad Street and at the east end of the Rich Street bridge.

About $1 million of the donations went outside Franklin County to nonprofit organizations in the nine other counties that make up metro Columbus. Big Give eligibility boundaries were expanded this year to extend donors’ charitable reach.

Contributions, meanwhile, poured in to central Ohio nonprofit groups from more than 1,000 cities, 49 states and seven countries. Education and social-services nonprofits, at 27 percent each, accounted for the most donations. Arts and culture organizations came next, with 14 percent.

Since the foundation first began community-giving days, others around the country have followed, Kridler said. Columbus’ Big Give likely will continue to take place every few years.

Support for the event is encouraging, Kridler said.

“It’s a reflection of folks’ pride about their region and their city. It’s a common investment.”