Washington D.C. — This week, Trump is heading to Ohio to campaign alongside Senator Jon Husted in an attempt to repair Republicans’ reputation after gutting Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) funding to finance tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. The visit comes as Ohio makes headlines for leading the country in ACA enrollment losses, with coverage down a staggering 32.4%. And the pressure on Ohio’s health care system is only growing. Now, the state faces more than $33 billion in lost Medicaid funding over the next decade, leaving families across the state scrambling to hang on to their health care.
As coverage falls, access to care across Ohio is disappearing with it. Since Senator Husted and Republicans’ cuts to health care last year, already, 40 hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes across the state have closed, cut services, or face the risk of doing so. Just last week, University Hospitals announced the Seidman Cancer Center in Geneva will be forced to close its doors come November, leaving patients with few options for critical cancer treatment. For one patient, that means a 10-minute trip for treatment will become a nearly hour-long drive.
In response, Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse issued the following statement:
“Jon Husted made his choice when he voted to rip health care away from Ohio families to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Now, he has the audacity to ask those same families to send him back to Washington. Rural health care in Ohio was already stretched thin, and these cuts are pouring gasoline on the fire. Ohioans can see what’s happening in their own backyards: facilities closing, services are being cut, premiums are rising, and families are being forced off their coverage. For too many people, getting the care they need now means driving further and paying more for it. They’re sick of it. Husted and Trump can campaign together all they want, but they can’t campaign their health care record off the ballot come November.”
Background
- An estimated 374,029 Ohioans have already lost the Medicaid, CHIP, or ACA coverage they counted on to see a doctor after Senator Jon Husted and Republicans voted to gut health care.
- 460,000 Ohioans in total are anticipated to become uninsured between 2025 and 2034 thanks to Senator Jon Husted and Republicans gutting health care.
- Premiums for Ohioans who counted on the health tax credits Republicans gutted increased by an average of 137% this year:
- A 45-year-old in Ohio making $64,000 saw their average annual premium costs rise by $1,516 to hit $6,956 this year.
- A 60-year-old couple in Ohio making $85,000 saw their average annual premium costs rise by $18,921 to hit $26,146 this year.
- A family of four in Ohio making $130,000 saw their average annual premium costs rise by $8,632 to hit $19,682 this year.
- Republican health care cuts impact everyone, no matter where they get their coverage. The 5,905,500 Ohioans with employer-sponsored health insurance are staring down a double-digit cost hike for 2027, with employers projecting health plan costs to rise 11.1% nationwide next year and major companies are already considering changes to their 2027 health benefits to offset rising plan costs.
- Hospital systems nationwide are already reporting a surge in uninsured patients after Senator Jon Husted and Republicans ripped away health tax credits. Ohio hospitals and clinics are facing a $363 million loss in funding and a 10.3% spike in uncompensated care demand that will affect their ability to keep their doors open.
- Ohio hospitals alone are also expected to lose $22.4 billion over the next decade due to GOP Medicaid cuts. As of late September, 40 Ohio health care providers are at-risk, announced cuts, are closing, or have closed, including:
- AT-RISK: Adams County Regional Medical Center, Avita Health System-Galion Hospital, Bucyrus Community Hospital, CareCore at Mary Scott, Coshocton Regional Medical Center, East Liverpool City Hospital, Englewood Health and Rehab, Fayette County Memorial Hospital, Garden Court Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Holzer Medical Center- Jackson, Southern Ohio Medical Center, Trinity Health System Twin City Medical Center, Wayne HealthCare, WVU Harrison Community Hospital
- CUTS ANNOUNCED: MetroHealth, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, UC Health
- CLOSURE ANNOUNCED: Bridgeway Pointe Assisted Living, MetroHealth – Pediatric Trauma Center, Mount Carmel Franklinton Emergency Room, Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals – Geneva, Three Gables Surgery
- CLOSED: Advanced Specialty Hospital, Broadview Heights Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy, Columbus Speech and Hearing, Fairfield Healthcare Professionals Sleep Medicine, Fairfield Medical Center Sleep Lab, Insight Hospital & Medical Center Trumbull, Medina Health Center, MetroHealth Cleveland Heights Medical Center – Psychiatric Emergency Department, MetroHealth Physical Therapy at West Shore Family YMCA, MetroHealth Rocky River Medical Offices, MetroHealth State Road Family Practice, OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital Maternity, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio – Franklinton, Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio – Hamilton, Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio – Springfield, River View Surgery Center, Soin Medical Center – Labor & Delivery Unit, The Dental Clinic at Old Brooklyn Medical Center