Patients, providers claim State Senator failed to protect healthcare costs
Some patients and health care providers met in Warren on Friday to share their thoughts on what they are calling a "health care crisis", one they say Ohio State Senator Jon Husted has contributed to.
A conference was held in the parking lot of Insight Hospital & Medical Center Trumbull, located at 1350 East Market Street in Warren. The conference aimed to bring attention to some of the decisions Husted had made regarding health care in the past and the difficulties some Ohioans are facing.
With the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits set to expire at the end of 2025, and with enrollment now open, some Ohio residents could be seeing their health care premiums double.
"As a physician, I've seen how critical the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits are for Ohio families. If Jon Husted refuses to act, health care costs will soar for more than half a million Ohioans. Families will lose coverage. Preventable illnesses and death will increase. This is Jon Husted's health care crisis," said Dr. Alexis Smith, a Youngstown-area physician, within a news release outlining the conference.
The group present at the conference argued that Senator Husted refused to act to protect health care, specifically citing the ACA, claiming that Husted voted against lowering healthcare premiums eight times.
"Think about the people we know. The single parent here in Warren working two jobs, the small business owner in Salem trying to keep the doors open, the contractor in Youngstown whose employer does not offer coverage. These are the people who stand to lose the most from subsidy cuts," said Dr. Smith.
Although the group referenced subsidy cuts to the ACA, an alternative solution was not offered for what those in need of healthcare could do without the subsidy.
