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Another Study Shows GOP Health Care Bill Would Adversely Impact Rural Ohioans

A new study showshealthcare changes proposed by Congressional Republicans will have a harmful effect on the tax credits and subsidies rural Ohioans receive. 

Jesse Cross-Call of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says under the plan, these Ohioans would see higher premiums and lower tax credits.

Cross-Call says there are certain factors facing rural communities that will impact them worse than urban areas.  

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Cross-Call says of the more than 11 million people who have Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, nearly 1.7 million live in rural America. The bill that would replace the ACA is now in the U.S. Senate. Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich has been pushing lawmakers to keep Medicaid expansion in the bill. But the proposal cuts Medicaid funding by 880 billion dollars. Those cuts would also impact the Medicaid School Program, which helps schools pay for special education services and wellness care for children in poverty. The bill still requires schools to provide services under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. But may school districts say the cuts could force them to fire special education therapists or increase class sizes.

 

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.
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