Ohio Dem chair: Obamacare replacement secrecy ‘horrific’

Blade (Toledo, OH)

June 21--Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper held a news conference Tuesday morning outside ProMedica Toledo Children's Hospital to discuss congressional Republicans' plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

In his remarks, Mr. Pepper said the Republican plan would destroy Ohio health care by phasing out the ACA's Medicaid expansion and hurt the state's economy by eliminating jobs in the health care sector.

"[Repealing the ACA] will really impact Ohio families, but it also will have an enormous effect on the economy and jobs, especially in certain areas where the economy is driven by hospitals and health care providers," he said. "We're here today to make sure amid a lot of other chaos in Washington that people are paying attention to how this affects Ohio."

Mr. Pepper called the closed-door drafting process "horrific" and said it should raise red flags that Republicans would rather face criticism for the bill's drafting process than for its content.

Mr. Pepper added that he holds all Republican senators responsible for the bill's genesis and outcome, but especially U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio.

"The idea that one of our senators is in the heart of the discussion and is not saying to Mitch McConnell, 'Make this public,' is frankly outrageous when so much of Ohio has so much at stake in this discussion," he said.

"He's culpable because they all are. But I think when he in particular made such an overt promise that he would frankly stand up on issues like the opioid crisis, to have this all be in secret is just unacceptable," he added.

Mr. Portman's press secretary Emily Benavides pointed out that Mr. Portman has said that the health care bill should have gone through the ordinary open drafting session hearings process.

In addition, she said, Mr. Portman is working to make sure those benefiting from expanded Medicaid keep their health care if the Republican plan becomes law.

"His goal is to create a workable system that lowers health care costs for families and small businesses, while protecting the most vulnerable in our society," Ms. Benavides told The Blade.

Senate Republicans hope to put the bill to a vote on June 29, just prior to the July 4 recess.

Contact Jacob Stern at: [email protected] or 419-724-6050.

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