Time is running out for 583,000 Ohioans whose health insurance premiums will spike when Affordable Care Act subsidies expire at month’s end, and the Today in Ohio podcast panel predicted severe political ramifications for lawmakers who sit idle.
“Look, they’re committing suicide here politically because all these people are about to see their bills skyrocket,” warned Chris Quinn. “They’ll either be paying a whole lot of money that they don’t have to stay insured, or they won’t have insurance, they’ll get sicker. And by next November, they’re going to be hot about the failure of their government to help them.”
The podcast detailed how Ohio’s congressional delegation is split along party lines on extending the subsidies established in 2021. Every Ohio Democrat in Congress supports permanent extension, with Rep. Shontel Brown warning that her “constituents can’t afford these Republican cuts.”
But most Republican representatives declined to comment or didn’t respond to inquiries about their positions. Those who did speak up, like Jim Jordan, argued that subsidies just increase prices but they had no concrete alternatives.
Ohio Senate candidates Bernie Moreno and John Husted have put forward plans to continue the subsidy, but on Thursday, the Senate rejected all proposed solutions.
Quinn expressed frustration with Republicans’ lack of constructive proposals: “If you want to complain about Obamacare, you’ve got to put up something different. And they don’t. They just complain about Obamacare. And there are people who have health insurance because of Obamacare.”
The podcast panel predicted serious political consequences for inaction, with the midterm elections less than a year away. Quinn said that affected voters would remember who let their healthcare costs skyrocket: “This will cost them in the midterms.”
Garvin suggested Republicans are strategically positioning themselves by criticizing the Affordable Care Act’s structure: “I think what’s happening, too, is they’re getting in their shots at Obamacare. They’re trying to change the narrative.”
For the hundreds of thousands of Ohioans who depend on the subsidies, the political posturing offers little comfort as they face potentially unaffordable healthcare costs in the new year.
Listen to the discussion here.
Listen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura Johnston.