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Columbus, Ohio- Over half a million Ohioans could soon see their healthcare premiums get more expensive or risk losing coverage entirely if Republicans allow tax credits that help families afford coverage to expire. Republicans are shutting down the government instead of lowering costs for Ohioans.

READ: Ohioans under Obamacare to see health costs spike or lose coverage if tax credits expire

• Hundreds of thousands of Ohioans who buy health insurance in the Affordable Care Act marketplace will see their premium costs spike dramatically or be uninsured altogether if tax credits from the federal government expire.

• These “enhanced premium tax credits”, or subsidies, are at the center of the nearly two-week government shutdown. They currently help over 24 million people, among them 583,000 Ohioans, afford health insurance that isn’t connected to an employer, depending on their income, that they purchase through the ACA marketplace.

• But those subsidies are set to expire at the end of 2025, with no apparent plan to extend them. It’s a major sticking point for Democrats who are railing against Republican cost-cutting efforts to health care.

• If the enhanced premium tax credits expire, a KFF Health News analysis found that enrollees will see their premiums more than double in 2026.

• In Ohio, that could look like a $2,092 increase per year for a family of four making $126,000 in Franklin County, according to KFF Health News’ calculation tool. For a 60-year-old couple in Delaware County making $75,000, there could be a $1,943 increase per year.

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Columbus, Ohio- This past Saturday, a sold out energized crowd of Ohio Democrats from across the state gathered in Columbus for the 2025 Ohio Rising dinner. Speakers included Senator Sherrod Brown, Dr. Amy Acton, Congressman Greg Landsman, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde and a video message from Senator Alex Padilla. 

“Ohioans are working hard, paying too much, and getting too little in return. Republicans in Columbus and Washington aren’t fixing it — they’re making it worse. The fight to take our country back starts right here,” said Chair Kathleen Clyde.

“This is our time, Democrats. Ohio is rising,” continued Chair Clyde.

Over 6000 local elections are on the ballot this November and next year Ohio Democrats will have the most opportunities to win statewide races in two decades. While Republicans redraw congressional districts to avoid answering for their unpopular agenda, Democrats are getting to work building infrastructure, organizing communities, and laying the groundwork to win at all levels of government. 

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“The 583,443 Ohioans who in 2025 bought health insurance through the federal marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act are in for some sticker shock next year”

Columbus, Ohio — As Jon Husted continues voting to keep the government shut down rather than protect affordable health care for 500,000 Ohioans, families across the state are bracing for “sticker shock” as his agenda drives health care companies to hike premiums ranging from 2.5% to 43%.

See for yourself:

Spectrum News 1: Health insurance premiums set to skyrocket as Congress deadlocks over subsidy extensions

• The 583,443 Ohioans who in 2025 bought health insurance through the federal marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act are in for some sticker shock next year, after the 11 health insurance companies that offer plans in Ohio through the marketplace are requesting to increase premiums by 2.5 to 43%.

• Health insurance companies cited the possible expiration of [ACA premium] tax subsidies as a major reason for their requested premium rate increases. […]

• Health policy experts said abruptly ending the enhanced subsidies would have cascading effects beyond higher premiums.

• Democrats have said extending the enhanced subsidies could prevent that from happening and are demanding such an extension in exchange for supporting a measure to fund the government and allow it to reopen.

• Republicans have said they would not support a funding measure with those extensions, and that even if [they] were packaged in separate legislation, the program would need reforms before they would vote for it.

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“China hasn’t purchased a single bushel of this year’s harvest”

Columbus, Ohio — Ohio farmers are warning that the reckless tariffs Jon Husted supports are threatening to devastate their livelihoods and put the state’s multibillion-dollar soybean industry at risk.

New front-page reporting from the Cleveland Plain Dealer details how “farmers across the state [are] anxiously wondering when things might change” as the tariffs backed by Husted drive away Chinese buyers and create a mounting crisis across rural Ohio.

Last week, during an interview with Spectrum News Columbus, Husted deflected blame for the consequences of the tariffs and refused to take responsibility for failing Ohio farmers. 

See for yourself:

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio Soybean Farmers are Being Left Out to Dry

• In a typical year, China buys 25% to 30% of the U.S. soybean crop, but this is not a typical year.

• Embroiled in a trade war with the United States, China hasn’t purchased a single bushel of this year’s harvest, according to Kirk Merritt, executive director of the Ohio Soybean Association, and that has farmers across the state anxiously wondering when things might change.

• Ohio ranks from fifth to seventh in soybean production among states, depending on the year, Merritt said, with the largest concentration of farmers in the northwest quadrant of the state.

• In most years, China would have already pre-booked billions of dollars in soybean orders from the United States, he said.

• “I think it’s an effort on their part to not buy our beans as part of the negotiation process,” Merritt said. “I think they’ve probably stated that.”

• What really galls farmers is that Argentina temporarily waived certain taxes on its soybean exports, making them more attractive to Chinese buyers, just before President Donald Trump decided the U.S. government would provide Argentina with a $20 billion financial aid package.

• “It’s hard for Ohio soybean farmers to swallow that just a day after Argentina maneuvered to supplant our market share in China, the Trump Administration announced it will send taxpayer money to Argentina to prop up its failing economy,” Ohio Soybean Association President Rusty Goebel said recently in a written statement.

• “The most active farmers I think are talking with their elected officials about improving export demand in whatever way they can,” Richer said.

• Merritt said that if China does not start buying U.S. soybeans soon, it could place economic stress on farmers, necessitating financial support from the federal government.

• “We continue to speak out and advocate for a trade deal that will benefit farmers,” Merritt said, “but the urgency is increasing every day.”

WATCH: Sen. Husted Dodges Responsibility for Tariffs Crushing Ohio Soybean Farmers 

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Columbus, OH- After Republicans in Washington and Columbus raised the cost of living for all Ohioans, Trump’s tariffs are further hurting Ohio’s soybean farmers as harvest season is underway. As Republicans continue raising costs and undercutting growth for Ohio farmers, Democrats are standing with them.

See for yourself: 

NewsNation: Farmer blasts Trump’s plan to dole out tariff revenue: ‘Comical’

• Ohio farmer Chris Gibbs believes the state of play for America’s agriculturalists has been negatively affected by President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Gibbs said farmers are taking major losses on top of U.S. commodities — like corn, soybeans and wheat — and it is putting them in a “hell of a mess.”

• “Farmers don’t have the working capital they need, or the cash flow they need to continue to pay the high expenses that we’re experiencing,” Gibbs said.

• Last week, Trump announced some tariff revenue would go to U.S. farmers, but no details about the amount of aid or how it would be dispersed have been made clear. Gibbs called Trump’s concept “the most ridiculous thing,” as he and other farmers are already bearing the brunt of tariffs daily and federal checks would only serve to help them break even — if that. “

• Now, the president of the United States is going to take my money and give it back to me and call it a bailout,” he said. “That’s that’s just comical.”

• Gibbs said he believes Trump is “petrified of rural America,” and that the nation’s growers need to stand up in protest of the administration’s ongoing trade troubles.

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