Sen. Brown Issues Statement on Vote to Throw 900,000 Ohioans Off Health Insurance with No Plan to Replace

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 -- The office of Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has issued the following statement:

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U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) issued the following statement after the Senate adopted the budget resolution, which lays the ground work to throw millions of Americans, including 900,000 Ohioans, off their health insurance with no plan to replace it.

"The fact that politicians with taxpayer funded insurance think they can throw hard-working families off of their healthcare without any plan to replace it is reprehensible," said Brown. "Opponents have had seven years to come up with a replacement plan and they haven't produced anything yet. Throwing Ohioans off of their healthcare and asking them to simply trust that everything will be alright is outrageous."

As part of the debate, Brown led an amendment that would have protected children from losing coverage under the repeal efforts. Republicans blocked the amendment from passage, but the final 49-49 tie vote was among the closest votes in the debate.

"Ohio children need access to doctors and care from the start so they can grow into healthy adults," said Brown. "More children now have care than ever before and now is not the time to leave parents scrambling to figure out how they'll care for their children when they're sick."

By using the budget process to repeal the healthcare law, the Senate can move forward without the usual 60 votes required to pass legislation. Brown's amendment would have effectively blocked any repeal effort that threatens health coverage for children by requiring 60 votes for anything that would lower healthcare coverage rates for children, reduce their benefits, or make their care more expensive.

This week, Ohio papers warned against the impact repeal could have on the thousands who've gained insurance through the Affordable Care Act:

Associated Press: Concerns in Ohio mount over any repeal of federal health law

* "Eric Brown, pastor of Woodland Christian Church in Columbus, said at a news conference that many of his parishioners 'thank God' for the health care law. He said repealing it without replacing it with something better would be 'cruel and unusual punishment.'"

* "'If Congress succeeds in repealing the ACA, Congress will make itself one huge death panel. Repealing the ACA means that Congress will have decided who lives and who dies,' he said. 'I would like this nation not to return to the days when race horses and pedigreed dogs get better health care than millions of American citizens.'"

Cleveland.com: Obamacare repeal would leave more than 220,000 Ohioans without mental health or drug addiction services, study says

* "A pair of reports released Wednesday show repealing the Affordable Care Act without a replacement program would jeopardize health coverage for nearly 1 million Ohioans, many who suffer from mental illness or substance abuse."

* "President-elect Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans plan to roll back major provisions of the 2010 health care law, also known as Obamacare, early this year. But they have yet to suggest an alternative to the program, which provides health insurance coverage to more than 20 million Americans."

Columbus Dispatch: Scrapping ACA could leave many Ohioans without mental health care, substance abuse treatment

* "More than 220,000 people in Ohio may not be able to afford care for mental illness or substance-use disorders such as addiction to prescription drugs if congressional Republicans scrap the 2010 health law without passing a substitute measure, a new report said."

Elyria Chronicle Telegram: Brown says Obamacare repeal will cost coverage, money

* "A report released Wednesday from Harvard Medical School and New York University, stating more than 220,000 Ohioans with addiction or mental health disorders are being treated under Obamacare, 151,357 through the Medicaid expansion and 69,225 under private insurance. Repeal would kick those people off of their insurance."

* "Kasich, a Republican who had sought the presidential nomination and did not back President-elect Trump, has said on numerous occasions that more than 700,000 people in Ohio would lose insurance without the Affordable Care Act and it would leave all of them in a lurch."

Toledo Blade: 220,000 in Ohio to lose addiction care with repeal

* "In Ohio, more than 69,000 people with substance-use disorders or mental health issues are covered through the insurance marketplace created from the passage of the Affordable Care Act, according to the report. An additional 151,000 people with these behavioral health issues have insurance through Ohio's Medicaid expansion."

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