The Truth Staff
On the anniversary of the passage of Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” local elected officials spoke out about the impact of that bill on access to health care for millions of Ohioans.
One year ago, Trump and the Republicans “created a full-on health care crisis and [put] access to health care at risk” for numerous Americans, wrote the Remington Road Group, an Ohio-based pubic and government affairs firm that oversaw the gathering.
“Last summer, President Donald Trump and Republicans rubber-stamped over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in favor of tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. The results have already been catastrophic, and things will only get worse. Nearly 15 million people nationwide, including 180,000 Ohioans, are set to lose coverage while premiums and out-of-pocket costs have spiked for working families, forcing them to delay and forgo health care just to pay rent and put food on the table,” RRG added in their statement.
On Tuesday, June 23, Alan Bannister of RRG brought together State Representatives Erika White and Michele Grim for a press conference on Madison Avenue, outside of the building that holds Sen. John Husted’s Toledo offices, to address the impacts of the that legislation.
“Now, 31 hospitals, nursing homes, and care facilities across Ohio are reducing services, laying off workers, closing their doors, or are at risk of doing so, stranding entire communities without essential care,” said State Rep. Erika White during her address.
“At the same time, Republicans ripped away health care tax credits that helped 22 million Americans, including 426,977 Ohioans, afford coverage. Without these tax credits, monthly premiums have skyrocketed from hundreds to thousands of dollars, forcing many to skip doctor’s appointments, refrain from taking their medication, drop coverage altogether, or cut other necessities, such as groceries. Millions of hard-working Americans and families across Ohio are being crushed under the weight of the GOP’s health care affordability crisis while Trump’s billionaire buddies cash in with some of the biggest tax breaks in history,” White added.
“One hundred and eighty thousand people are expected to lose health care in Ohio in the year ahead,” said Grim. “It’s an economic crisis with 51,000 jobs to lose… the impact will be felt in every corner of the state. When people lose coverage, they do not stop getting sick.
While the cuts have already been devastating for so many individuals and families in Ohio and in the nation in general, the deepest cuts were postponed by Republicans in Congress so that they would not take effect until 2027 and 2028, after this year’s midterm elections noted the local Democratic officials.