Ohio's Governor and two U.S. Senators are weighing in on plans by Congressional Republicans and the incoming Trump administration to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Democrat Sherrod Brown is critical of GOP lawmakers for not proposing a detailed plan to improve health care.
Brown says repealing the law would leave 7 percent of Ohioans without health insurance, and would hurt jobs by taking Medicaid reimbursements away from hospitals. Brown's counterpart, Republican Rob Portman, says a budget resolution will be voted on in the next week. That would establish a timeframe for a vote on a reconciliation bill. That bill would decide the type of transition to a new health care system, which Portman says could take two to three years. Portman says a long-term goal is to change Medicaid so states can waive some of its mandates.
Last fall the federal government rejected one such plan – dubbed HealthyOhio. Ohio Governor John Kasich is scheduled to talk about Medicaid expansion on January 19th in Washington at a discussion for Senate Republicans about health care. Kasich says repealing and replacing the ACA might jeopardize Medicaid expansion.
Kasich says the alternative — receiving primary care in an emergency room — is too costly. Meanwhile, Kasich says he will attend the inauguration of President-Elect Trump on January 20.
