Sen. Brown Joins Northwest Ohioans to Stand Against Higher Healthcare Costs

TOLEDO, Ohio, May 30 -- The office of Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, issued the following news release:

Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined northwest Ohioans to stand up against higher healthcare costs. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the House plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act would cause premiums to go up an average of about 20 percent next year. Ohioans between the ages of 50 and 65 who do not have coverage through an employer would face even higher healthcare costs and would lose protections against paying more for pre-existing conditions.

The House GOP plan would raise the insurance premiums of an average 60-year-old in Ohio by $1,609 annually, according to data compiled by the Senate Committee on Aging.

"It's despicable for Washington politicians with taxpayer-funded insurance to raise prices on working Ohioans simply for getting older," Brown said. "Instead of padding the pockets of insurance company CEOs, we should be working together to lower costs for all Ohioans."

The Affordable Care Act established "age bands" that limit health insurance companies from charging older Americans more than three times what they charge younger Americans. The House healthcare plan loosens these age bands to allow insurance companies to charge these older Americans more than five times more than what they charge younger Americans, causing premiums for older Americans to spike and become unaffordable. The House GOP bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act places the financial burden of higher healthcare costs on older Americans.

The bill would also strip away protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions, meaning older Americans with conditions like asthma and cancer would be charged more for their health insurance.

Brown was joined by Sam Burnett with the Alliance for Retired Americans and Ms. Barbara McGrady, a northwest Ohio patient.

"The GOP Proposed Medicare Bill will hurt a group of our citizens by banding the eligibility of the age group 55 to 64. This group needs the protection as much or more than any other. This age group, 55 to 64, is expected to do more with less help. The bill would force this age group to pay five times more than a younger American for their health insurance," said Burnett.

In February, Brown joined Senate colleagues in a letter urging the Trump Administration to drop plans for executive action that would increase the price of health insurance for older Ohioans.

Following the release of the Congressional Budget Office's latest estimate on the number of people who will be left without health insurance under the American Health Care Act this week, Brown reiterated his concerns with the House healthcare plan. According to the CBO, the House bill would cause premiums to go up an average of about 20 percent next year and increase the number of uninsured to 23 million by 2026. The CBO also found the bill would cause costs to rise so dramatically for people with pre-existing conditions that they would be unable to purchase individual insurance plans.