The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
Congressional Democrats from Ohio say they’re still fighting to keep health care for Ohioans as a government shutdown and stalemate continues on Capitol Hill.
The weeks-old government shutdown does not appear to have an end in sight, as Republicans and Democrats trade blame as to why agreement isn’t coming.
In a press conference with advocacy group Protect Our Care, Ohio U.S. Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Shontel Brown and Greg Landsman said they and their Democratic colleagues are ready to meet with Republicans to resolve their issues, specifically to return Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits to Americans, credits which are set to expire at the end of the year.
“We would like to reopen the government, get an ironclad agreement to cancel the (ACA) cuts, to lower the costs and save our health care,” Brown said.
The expiration of those tax credits could cause out-of-pocket premium payments to “more than double,” according to the policy research group KFF. The group also said insurers in the ACA Marketplace are releasing proposals to raise rates by an average of 18%.
Landsman said 32,000 of his constituents in Southwest Ohio would see their health care costs “skyrocket” if the subsidies aren’t extended, and 14,000 would lose health care altogether.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to us why this has to be a fight,” he said.
Kaptur defended Democrats against arguments that it is the minority party keeping the government from reopening, simply because they’re not willing to budge on renewing the health care tax breaks.
“(Republicans) believe that people should pay 20% or more than they’re already paying, sometimes as much as $1,500 more a month for the insurance that they receive, and we’re saying we don’t agree with that,” Kaptur said. “We think that’s a very bad idea.”
She said Ohio in particular would be hit hard by the changes to the ACA, likening the impact to states like Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
“We will be hit as hard as they are, and that’s because the federal support for health insurance is critical, because Ohio doesn’t do as much as it can,” Kaptur told reporters.
The representatives on the press call said they would keep fighting for the ACA renewals, as were advocates and one Ohio resident who has to decide whether he could afford health insurance if the subsidies are allowed to expire.
Justin Carter, a 27-year-old Columbus resident, got insurance through the Marketplace after aging out of his dad’s insurance plan. He’s a former college athlete who works for a local non-profit, and said he still hits the gym four to five days a week.
“I came to the conclusion that without it, I’m always one injury away from a lot of medical debt,” Carter said.
But with the discussions happening at the federal level, Carter said he’s had to seriously consider whether he can afford to keep his health care in the future.
“Going forward, with these changes, I’m going to have rethink whether or not I should get coverage, or if it’s even a little bit affordable for me,” Carter said.
While employees of TruPartner Credit Union in Cincinnati don’t get the tax breaks directly, the business uses an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement, which allows the company to provide a stipend to employees for their health care. The stipend can then be used by employees for the health insurance plan of their choice on the ACA Marketplace.
The credit union employs about 50 people, and as a small staff, President and CEO Nina Myers said it’s difficult to find group plans.
“We have seen folks struggle, if they can’t afford health insurance,” Myers said. “They go without, and then that affects our business in terms of productivity and folks being away during times that they’re sick.”
With potentially increased insurance rates as a result of the ACA changes, Myers said the company’s broker expects national increases of about 21% and state increases of about 19%.
“We are going to be forced with how much of that can we absorb, how much of that is going to have to be passed on to our staff for future health costs,” Myers said.
The congressional representatives believe the only way forward is pressure at the top, from Americans inconvenienced by the government shutdown, and those who may lose or pay more for their health insurance. Without the White House’s say so, they don’t see the GOP making any significant moves.
“I believe President (Donald) Trump has to step in and bring the principals to the White House and sit there and solve the problem,” Kaptur said. “Find a way of finding the money to keep insurance affordable for the American people.”