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VOTE ALERT: Jon Husted Votes Again to Make Health Care More Expensive — His Ninth Vote This Year

Columbus, Ohio — Today, Senator Jon Husted once again voted to raise health care costs for Ohio families — the ninth time this year he has voted against lowering insurance premiums. 

Because of Husted’s votes, more than half a million Ohioans are bracing for skyrocketing premiums as the Affordable Care Act tax credits expire. Husted has dismissed the ACA tax credits as “not the way to go about it” and claimed they do “nothing to drive down the cost of health care.”

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

“Jon Husted just voted for the ninth time to make health care more expensive for more than half a million Ohioans. This is Jon Husted’s health care crisis, and families across Ohio are now bracing for their premiums to double or even triple next year.” 

Read more about Jon Husted’s health care crisis:

  • 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.
  • 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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NEW REPORT: Husted Pushes to Raise Costs for Ohioans

Columbus, Ohio — Jon Husted wants to send health care costs soaring for Ohio families, according to new reporting from Ohio Capital Journal.

Health insurance premiums are set to skyrocket for an estimated 583,000 Ohioans as the ACA tax credits expire. Husted has already voted eight times against lowering health care premiums and continues to attack the ACA tax credits that Ohioans rely on, claiming they are “not the way to go about it.”

Read more:

Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio U.S. Sen. Jon Husted wants to “freeze” ACA insurance subsidies

  • With health insurance costs poised to spike for more than a half-million Ohioans, U.S. Sen. Jon [Husted’s proposal] consists mostly of raising costs or cutting benefits for low and middle-income consumers whose pay and insurance plans aren’t as good as his own.
  • With the country mired in an affordability crisis, large majorities of Americans want to see the subsidies extended.
  • Husted has been highly critical of the ACA subsidies, which are credited with helping to bring down the rate of uninsured Americans to an all-time low. He voted repeatedly against extending them.
  • In his Nov. 20 floor speech, Husted called them, “Another $350 billion on the national credit card for a program that we know is dysfunctional.”
  • Husted’s office didn’t respond last week when asked why he was against extending that program as is, while he was OK with voting last summer for President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 
  • To do so, [Husted] proposed a “fraud, freeze and fix approach.” Most pertinent to Ohioans who get their insurance on the ACA exchanges is the “freeze” portion of the formula.
  • The freeze would fall on people using the exchanges. They would either see their costs go up with health-sector inflation, or some would be locked out of the program.
  • If the ACA subsidies are allowed to expire, marketplace recipients will lose those savings. That would create large numbers of uninsured people who would still get sick, but couldn’t pay for their care — a matter Husted didn’t discuss.
  • Freezing the amount spent on the program would require some mix of reducing eligibility and increasing participants’ costs.

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ICYMI: Ohio Patients, Health Care Providers Sound the Alarm on Jon Husted’s Health Care Crisis

Warren, Ohio — With open enrollment now underway, health care premiums are skyrocketing for an estimated 583,000 Ohioans as the ACA tax credits are set to expire at the end of this year.

Last week, Ohio patients and health care providers sounded the alarm in Warren on Jon Husted’s health care crisis. Husted has already voted eight times against lowering health care costs and continues to attack the ACA tax credits that Ohioans rely on, claiming they are “not the way to go about it.”

See for yourself:

WFMJ: Ohioans Call Out Jon Husted For His Health Care Crisis

  • Lindsay McCoy: With the Affordable Care Act tax credits set to expire, and open enrollment now underway, Ohioans could see their premiums double this year. 
  • Lindsay McCoy: The group blames Senator Husted saying he refused to act, saying that he used the Affordable Care Act as a political talking point but offers no alternatives to people in need of the subsidy. 
  • Janeen Shakelford, Warren resident: “You are supposed to be for the people, you are on the HELP Committee in the Senate, and you are not helping us. You’re making it harder for us and more difficult to live the American dream […].”
  • Lindsay McCoy: The group also calls out the U.S. Senator for voting against lowering health care premiums eight times.

WKBN: Local group gathers in Warren to push for ACA tax credit extension

  • Outside the now-closed Insight Hospital and Medical Center Trumbull, a group of people held signs that said “Lower our Healthcare Costs” and “Save Our Healthcare.” 
  • They’re voicing their concerns about the impending expiration of Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits. It would mean a price hike for many people who rely on the marketplace for coverage.
  • “I started off with around a $200 bill. My tax credits, if they are removed, have increased my cost to over $935 per month, which is $300 more than my mortgage,” said Janeen Shackleford, who relies on ACA for coverage.
  • Dr. Alexis Smith said when people lose insurance, preventable conditions go untreated.
  • “Emergency rooms become the primary source of care, families delay seeing a doctor until problems are more advanced and more expensive to manage,” she said. “Jon Husted and the Republicans need to extend the subsidies that keep Ohioans insured, healthy and financially stable.”

WFMJ: Patients, providers claim U.S. 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 United States Senator Jon Husted, who represents Ohio, has contributed to.
  • 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.
  • 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.

The Vindicator: Valley residents protest Husted over Obamacare tax credits

  • Local residents, organized by a left-leaning organization, spoke against U.S. Sen. Jon Husted for not extending the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits that expire at the end of the month.
  • Janeen Shackelford of Youngstown said the credits “have been a lifeline for me. They allowed me to become a real estate agent knowing I could afford coverage on the marketplace. Now, because of Jon Husted’s votes, my premiums are tripling next year and I won’t be able to afford my health insurance.”
  • Shackelford was among about a dozen people Friday outside the closed Insight Hospital and Medical Center Trumbull in Warren to speak against the Republican senator regarding the expiring ACA tax credits.
  • Mike Phifer of Warren said Friday that Husted’s position means “my premiums, and thousands of others, are going up next year. It’s just one more thing getting more expensive thanks to Sen. Husted.”

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NEW: Jon Husted Doesn’t Think There Is an Affordability Crisis in Ohio

Columbus, Ohio — Today, Jon Husted claimed that the affordability crisis only exists in “blue states” and not in Ohio — ignoring the harsh reality for Ohioans that are paying more thanks to Husted’s affordability crisis.

Husted’s reckless tariffs are driving up prices across the board, while his votes on health care are sending premiums soaring for more than half a million Ohioans. As energy and grocery bills rise, Husted refuses to acknowledge the crisis he helped create.

WATCH: 

Transcript: 

Jon Husted: Remember, the affordability crisis is the worst in blue states, in blue cities and in Republican states, you know, we’ve done things like in Ohio, we embraced fracking and oil extraction and lowering energy costs. 

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

“Jon Husted may not think there is an affordability crisis, but Ohio families living with higher grocery bills, higher health care premiums, and higher energy bills would beg to differ. Husted can pretend that this crisis doesn’t exist, but Ohioans are paying the price for his votes every day.” 

Read more about Jon Husted’s Affordability Crisis: 

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ICYMI: Ramaswamy Slammed for “Embarrassing” Policy So Bad His Supporters Searched for “Nonsensical Explanations” 

Columbus, Ohio- In case you missed it, the Ironton Tribune editorial board slammed Vivek Ramaswamy’s botched education policy rollout where he revealed a policy so bad his own supporters thought it was AI. Even Republicans know Ramaswamy has the wrong idea for Ohio.

See for yourself: 

  • Last week, the campaign of Democratic Ohio gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton posted a seven-second clip of her rival, Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to her social media feeds. 
  • The clip featured Ramaswamy making a pitch to do away with summer break for students, making schools go year round and extend the length of the school day in the state.  
  • Setting aside the fact that year-round school has been proven to costs states more, due to increased expenses, such as utilities, wear and tear on buildings, as well as more staffing and administrative costs, looking at schools as a way to provide cheap or “free” babysitters shows Ramaswamy may have his priorities wrong when it comes to educational policy.  […]
  •  So it came as no surprise that the idea was deeply unpopular with many, even in Ramaswamy’s own party.  
  • Conservative commentator Meghan McCain described it “an absolutely insane idea” and said it was “completely removing the importance of family bonding time and anything non-academic related.”  
  • Rather than defend Ramaswamy’s policy idea, some Republicans and conservatives instead tried a different approach – concocting an elaborate, ludicrous conspiracy theory to try to clear away Ramaswamy’s ill-received idea.  
  • And Ramaswamy’s campaign eventually admitted, to the Columbus Dispatch, that the video, which they had deleted, was, in fact, a legitimate recording of their candidate.
  • Ramaswamy’s campaign owes Ohioans a better explanation here. Simply erasing the video, after their allies tried to claim it was fake, and hoping the matter vanishes down the memory hole is not sufficient.  
  • This entire display has been pure amateur hour – whether it is the nonsensical claims of fringe media figures Ramaswamy allies with or the campaign’s garbled explanation of the video and lack of clarification of his position, whatever that may be.  

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