Ohioans’ health care is once again under attack from Washington Republicans who are attempting to use the courts to get around the will of the voters, and overturn the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA).
In a matter of weeks, the Supreme Court will hear the case pushed by President Trump that would do what the American people rejected over and over: overturn the entire ACA.
And after months of failing to take action to get Ohio families and communities additional coronavirus relief, President Trump and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell are willing to drop everything and move heaven and earth to put another corporate justice on the Supreme Court who would be the deciding vote in that case.
We have every reason to believe this new justice will stick with President Trump and Leader McConnell’s position, and take away Americans’ health care in the middle of a pandemic.
So much is at stake – overturning the ACA would mean Ohioans would lose out on tax credits to help you afford health insurance and limits on how much you pay out-of-pocket each year.
Ohio’s entire Medicaid expansion would be eliminated. Children would no longer be able to stay on their parents’ insurance until they’re 26. Many Ohio seniors on Medicare would face higher drug prices, and they would lose free preventive services like mammograms and bone density screenings.
And more than two million Ohioans with preexisting conditions would be at risk of losing their health coverage entirely.
I spoke with Ohioans last week who could lose coverage for their children who were born with serious medical conditions, if this Supreme Court Justice overturns the ACA. You can hear the anguish in their voices.
No Ohio family should have to live with that kind of anxiety.
Ohioans’ health care is at stake with this seat – and voters deserve to have their voices heard.
The election is already underway – Ohioans are casting ballots in early voting booths and filling out mail-in ballots, right now. Their votes should count.
We cannot stand by and watch unelected judges – installed by politicians who take their cues from Wall Street and corporate lobbyists – take away Ohioans’ health care, and take away your voice in your own government.
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) represents Ohio in the U.S. Senate.
