As the November general election approaches, there are many issues that will be up for debate, but voter polling and advocacy group observations show that access to health care is high on the list of issues motivating voters in Ohio and elsewhere this election season.
Protect Our Care, a national advocacy group that focuses on health care policy, said expanded Medicaid coverage, chronic disease protection, preventive care and other things covered by the Affordable Care Act could change depending on the results of the November election. The fact that access to health care may be adopted at the federal and state level, as well as subject of lawsuits that go to the U.S. Supreme Court mean that elected officials at all levels of government have a say in the health care landscape in the country and its state.
“It may not seem as existential as climate, but if you are a diabetic, it seems very existential,” said Leslie Dach, president of Protect Our Care.
A June 2024 survey conducted by Hart Research in partnership with Protect Our Care found that 48% of voters surveyed rated health care as “very important” to this year’s election.
Among the priorities of voters surveyed, lowering health insurance costs and prescription drug prices topped the list, followed closely by ensuring access to high-quality health care for all Americans.
Ohio has taken steps to boost access to health care as AMedicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act he came to the country from one study says that the lives of more than 1,400 Ohioans saved in the four years following the 2014 expansion
From June 2024 Ohio Department of Medicaid reported 789,783 Ohioans enrolled in the ACA Medicaid expansion and 134,593 enrolled in the Medicare Premium Assistance Program (MPAP). MPAP is a program to support low-income people who don’t qualify for Medicaid but for whom Medicaid pays premiums in a separate Medicare program, according to ODM.
The State Department reported that a total of 3,072,880 Ohioans participated in all programs it supervises.
As of February of this year, more than 477,000 Ohioans had obtained insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace Plan under the Affordable Care Actwhich is an boost from 294,644 in the previous year.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has previously spoken about Attempt to repeal the ACAcalled Obamacare if he became president again.
President Joe Biden, who was vice president when the Affordable Care Act was passed, supports the initiative and called for an extension of subsidies expires next year.
Ohio’s U.S. Senate candidate, Bernie Moreno, has criticized the programwhile incumbent U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown has consistently supported the ACA and promised to do more.
Recent Pew Research Center Study found that 65% of Americans surveyed in April 2024 said the federal government “has an obligation to provide health insurance to all Americans.”
The partisan breakdown showed that Democrats overwhelmingly feel that way, with 88% of those identifying with that party blaming the federal government, compared with just 40% of Republicans. But the survey found that Republican voter support has increased by 8% since 2021.
When it comes to how that health care should be delivered, the Pew study found that 36% of respondents want “one national program,” while 28% said it should be a combination of government and private programs.
While some debate the exploit of the federal government as a provider of access to health care out of fear of “big government,” Dach said people support putting their taxes into health care programs “because it’s clear to them.”
“There are expensive things that are no longer expensive for people and that make them take medications and get vaccinated,” Dach says.
The Protect Our Care chairman said healthcare is a voteable issue because it not only concerns health but also the economics of a family.
“If someone in your family is sick, it takes over your life,” Dach said. “If you live in a mining country or a technology country, it doesn’t matter, people desperately need this to be affordable.”
