Uncategorized

Premiums Set to Spike for More Than Half a Million Ohioans

Columbus, Ohio — Jon Husted is still refusing to support extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits and lowering health care costs for more than half a million Ohioans — even after a bipartisan discharge petition in the House today secured enough Republican signatures to come to the floor for a vote.

Despite bipartisan support in the House and Senate, Jon Husted has voted nine times against lowering health care premiums for Ohio families. Because of Husted’s votes, an estimated 583,000 Ohioans are bracing for their premiums to skyrocket next year. 

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“Jon Husted continues to refuse to support extended tax credits for Ohioans — and he’s voted nine times to make health care more expensive for Ohio families. More than half a million Ohioans are now bracing for their premiums to double or even triple, and Husted isn’t lifting a finger to help them.”

Read more about Jon Husted’s health care crisis:

• Jon Husted has voted 9 times this year against lowering premium costs for Ohio families and claimed the ACA tax credits have done “nothing to drive down the cost of health care.”

• When asked how best to help working families afford health insurance, Jon Husted said the ACA tax credits were “not the way to go about it.”

• More than half a million Ohioans will see their healthcare premiums get more expensive or risk losing coverage entirely if Jon Husted allows tax credits that help families afford coverage to expire at the end of the month.

• Ohio families could see their premiums increase by an average of $804 a year because Jon Husted is refusing to take action to extend the ACA tax credits.

• The average 60-year-old couple could see a $1,300 increase in their premiums on average. That’s an entire paycheck for most Ohioans.

###

Columbus, Ohio – In case you missed it, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde appeared on Sunday Briefing with Colleen Marshall to discuss the momentum Ohio Democrats have going into 2026. 

Check out key highlights below and watch the full interview here: 

On Vivek Ramaswamy: There’s nothing more out of touch for Ohioans who are struggling with rising costs of living than a billionaire candidate who flies around the state and in a private jet and has called Ohio workers lazy and mediocre.

On Ohio Dems Organizing:  I have been focused on what we need to do to get our urban turnout back to the numbers that it used to be and we need to to emphasize year round organizing. 

We can’t show up on the last 30 to 60 days, of an election, and expect that we’ll be able to turn out voters, but we have to be engaging in communities, talking about what Democratic leadership looks like, and having those conversations all year round, not just in the final days leading up to an election. 

On Ohio Dems Candidates: I am excited about who we have at the top of our ticket, both in Amy Acton and Sherrod Brown, who’s fantastic […] and excites our party base and working families across the state. 

So we see enthusiasm, we saw it across the country, in the elections in November. We saw it in local elections across the state here in Ohio, and we’re looking forward to seeing that moment in the build as we head into next year. 

###

‘Incoming health care changes mean more overall struggles for Ohioans, advocates say’

Columbus, Ohio — Jon Husted voted for the ninth time last week against extending the ACA premium tax credits. Now, more than half a million Ohioans are bracing for skyrocketing health care costs as the tax credits expire at the end of the month.

Husted also cast the deciding vote for the largest cut to Medicaid in history, ripping coverage from 490,000 Ohioans and putting at least eleven rural Ohio hospitals on the brink of closure.

Read more about Jon Husted’s health care crisis:

Ohio Capital Journal: Incoming health care changes mean more overall struggles for Ohioans, advocates say

• Health care advocates and researchers say the new year will be a challenging one for Ohioans with federal changes to health care coming with surety but uncertainty.

• Federal cuts to Medicaid mean Ohio is expected to lose $33 billion over the next decade, something Gov. Mike DeWine acknowledged will be an issue going forward.

• Health care workers and advocates are also bracing for change amid a deadlock in the U.S. Senate on proposals surrounding the Affordable Care Act. The lack of action makes it more than likely that the enhanced tax credits that are currently a part of the Affordable Care Act will expire in 2026.

• According to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, increased Affordable Care Act premiums stemming from the expiring tax credits could mean annual premiums will more than double in 2026, compared to 2025 rates.

• Increased premiums also include rate increases from insurers, according to O’Rourke.

• So, with Medicaid cuts already set to impact Ohioans, and upcoming changes stemming from the federal budget reconciliation bill passed in July, Ohioans may have to make some tough calls when it comes to affording health care and anything else their households need.

• Families will face complicated decisions between medication, health care, transportation, food, and other things they need, not just one thing at a time, something advocates say policymakers need to keep in mind as they mull funding decisions.

• “Very quickly we have seen … (news of the changes lead) to panic attacks, very high anxiety,” said Summer Kirby, chief executive officer of Portsmouth’s Compass Community Health.

###

Columbus, Ohio — Jon Husted once again proved he prioritizes the ultra-wealthy over working Ohioans when he complained about people saying “rich people [are] selfish” as he attempted to justify his record of blocking ACA tax credit extensions and delivering tax breaks to the rich.

This comes after: 

• Husted claimed the affordability crisis only exists in “blue states,” dismissing the pain Ohio families are feeling every day.

• Husted revealed he has no solutions to actually lower prices, suggesting that struggling Ohioans should just “earn more” to make ends meet.

• Husted voted for the ninth time against lowering health care costs, sending premiums soaring for more than half a million Ohioans.

WATCH HERE:

Transcript: 

Jon Husted: “People talk about rich people being selfish… No – I’ve not talked to any person that’s of means who said that they wouldn’t be willing to pay higher taxes if they knew it would be to balance the budget and eliminate the debt or buy down the debt, but what they don’t trust is that they’re going to get you’re going to get taxed more, and then it’s just going to be used to spend more, and it’s not going to solve the problem.”

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement: 

“Jon Husted spent last week voting against lower health care costs and lecturing Ohioans to just make more money, and now he’s rushing to defend billionaires and his corporate donors. Ohio families deserve a Senator focused on making life more affordable for them — not someone obsessed with protecting his wealthy friends.”

###

Columbus, Ohio – Republicans have been in charge in Ohio for nearly two decades, and the cost of childcare is out of control. New reporting from the Columbus Dispatch outlines the “woeful” state of childcare in Ohio and how Republicans are doing nothing to fix it while showering the super wealthy with tax giveaways and vouchers for wealthy private schools.

READ: Improving childcare critical for Ohio’s parents, employers | Editorial, Columbus Dispatch, 12/14/2025

• Do you have a spare $25,000 to spend every year? For nearly all Ohioans, the answer is surely no, especially if they are younger parents of two children facing inflation in everyday costs and soaring medical insurance premiums.

• But $25,000 is the cost parents in Ohio must pay if they enroll both an infant and 4-year-old child in full-time day care so they can work and provide for themselves. It’s a troubling percentage of the take-home wages for anyone with Ohio’s median household income of $72,000, per the US Census Bureau’s 2024 estimate.

• Ohio has resources it could choose to use for our youngest kids and their parents. […] One might wonder why Republican lawmakers continue to ignore this problem. It’s almost as if they believe women always should remain home with their children. Surely that’s not the case?

• Ohio’s children, parents and businesses need a comprehensive statewide plan to improve access and affordability for childcare.

###