Protect our care! New bill puts healthcare of millions at risk
April 27, 2017
The sad truth about the House health care bill
Posted on 05/04/17 by Kate Sopko in Basic Needs + Unemployment Insurance
This afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a disastrous health care bill. While it still has to make its way through the Senate, in its current form the bill would have devastating consequences for Ohioans’ health and health care coverage.
Under the bill:
- 964,000 Ohioans, and 24 million Americans, will lose their health insurance coverage.
- More than 4.8 million Ohioans with preexisting conditions like diabetes, asthma, heart conditions and hypertension will no longer be guaranteed coverage through federal protection, as they were under the Affordable Care Act.
- Ohioans paying for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace will have their overall out-of-pocket costs increase by an average of $1,116. A typical 60-year-old Ohioan with income of $22,000 will see premiums increase $4,807.
- Basic services like preventive care, pregnancy and maternity services, prescription drugs, hospitalization, mental health services and substance abuse treatment, will no longer be federally-guaranteed Essential Benefits that insurers must cover, as they were under the Affordable Care Act.
- Nationally, $839 billion will be cut from Medicaid (Ohio’s largest health insurance provider) over the next decade. Medicaid costs of $22 billion will shift to the state, likely greatly reducing services and effectively ending Medicaid expansion, which had allowed 723,000 Ohioans to gain health insurance since 2014.
- Ohio can anticipate a drag on job growth as a result of this Health Care bill, with 81,385 potential jobs lost by 2022.
- People won’t be required to purchase insurance, but if their coverage lapses over two months, they will have to pay a 30 percent surcharge once they go back on.
The following is a list of Ohio’s U.S. Representatives who voted yes on the house healthcare bill and the number of non-elderly constituents in their districts with pre-existing conditions
Rep. Bill Johnson, Congressional District 6: 284,900
Rep. Bob Latta, Congressional District 5: 297,800
Rep. Bob Gibbs, Congressional District 7: 304,700
Rep. Pat Tiberi, Congressional District 12: 328,300
Rep. James Renacci, Congressional District 16: 291,600
Rep. Steve Stivers, Congressional District 15: 317,500
Rep. Steve Chabot, Congressional District 1: 306,400
Rep. Jim Jordan, Congressional District 4: 297,600
Rep. Warren Davidson, Congressional District 8: 302,700
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, Congressional District 2: 300,800
The writing’s on the wall. Most Americans’ health care needs are not a priority for GOP leadership. If you care about what’s at stake, it’s time to make your voice heard to Senate leadership.