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WATCH: Husted’s Big Idea: ‘Earn More’ Money

Columbus, Ohio — Jon Husted’s year in the U.S. Senate has been defined by one thing: Ohioans are paying more for everything while he votes to make life even more expensive.

🚑 🩺 Last week, Husted voted for the ninth time against extending the ACA premium tax credits.

WOSU: More than 500,000 Ohioans evaluating healthcare choices as ACA costs could spike in 2026

• Millions of Americans, including 500,000 Ohioans who are buying health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, could see large increases in premiums in their plans starting in the new year. Congress has not yet voted to continue government subsidies for the ACA.

• Brian O’Rourke, Health Policy Institute of Ohio: Some projections from the Urban Institute and others suggest that, you know, over 100,000, up to 140,000 individuals could become uninsured because of these premium increases and the expiration of the enhanced subsidies […].

• O’Rourke: But the expectation is that a lot of people are going to see those big rate increases of thousands of dollars in some cases, and they’re going to decide that they just cannot afford it with their budgets and all the other cost of living constraints that many Ohioans are currently facing related to other life necessities.

💵 ⬆️ Meanwhile, Husted’s reckless tariffs are driving up the cost of everything, crushing Ohio farmers, families, and small businesses.

Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio farmers see one-year, 74% loss in Chinese sales due largely to Trump tariffs, report shows

• The report shows Ohio farmers lost nearly $76 million of their exports to China this year compared to one year earlier.

• That’s not helpful as Republicans struggle to deal with a national affordability crisis.

• Farmers have faced a double whammy. They’ve seen many of their costs go up because of the import taxes.

🤨 Jon Husted’s big idea? Simply “earn more” — proving he has no plan to lower costs.

MeidasTouch News: Jon Husted Tells Americans the Solution to the Affordability Crisis is to ‘Earn More’:

• MAGA Republican Ohio Senator Jon Husted said in an interview on Fox Business that the solution for Americans struggling with affordability is just to “earn more.”

• “Look, there are three ways to make things more affordable: Earn more, keep more of what you earn, and drive down prices,” Husted said, “and that’s exactly what we’re doing in Congress.”

• The comments came after Husted cast a vote to block the extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies for the ninth time in the U.S. Senate. The expiration of those subsidies as part of Trump’s budget bill will result in insurance premiums increasing for Americans by 100%-150%. ACA subsidies help 583,000 Ohioans afford health insurance.

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Husted’s Only Solution: “Earn More”

Columbus, Ohio — PJM’s new auction results show that Ohio utility bills are set to skyrocket yet again, and Jon Husted still has no plan to lower costs for Ohio families. 

This latest price hike comes as Husted continues to deny reality: 

• Husted said the affordability crisis only exists in “blue states,” even claiming that he had helped lower energy costs in Ohio as families are paying more than ever.

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

• Husted defended his wealthy and corporate donors — complaining about people saying “rich people [are] selfish” — while voting for the ninth time against lowering health care costs.

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

“Under Senator Husted, Ohioans are paying more for everything from energy bills to health care to groceries, and his only solution is to lecture them to make more money. Jon Husted isn’t fighting for working families, he’s only looking out for billionaires and his corporate donors — and people across Ohio are fed up.”

Read more:

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio consumers’ electric bills likely to jump again as demand outstrips supply of power

• This week, for the first time, Ohio’s regional power grid operator was unable to buy enough power to meet its own reliability target.

• “Electricity costs are rising, and reliability is falling because we simply do not have enough supply to meet demand,” said Shayna Fritz, executive director of the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum.

• For consumers — many of whom saw electric bills spike this summer — the results point to higher costs as power supply falls behind demand.

• After the July 2025 auction, analysts estimated Ohio electric bills would increase by 1.5% to 5% starting in June 2026. Because December’s auction hit the same cap, a similar impact is expected.

• August polling from the Conservative Energy Network found 87% of voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania worried about energy affordability, while 65% were concerned about reliability.

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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.

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‘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.

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