TOLEDO, Ohio — U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown met with Northwest Ohio residents who said they are struggling to afford health care, using the discussion to criticize incumbent Sen. Jon Husted’s voting record on health care-related measures.
Husted voted nine times against legislation tied to the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits, which Brown’s campaign says lower health insurance premiums for more than half a million Ohioans. Brown referenced those votes while speaking with residents about rising insurance costs and medical bills.
“Jon Husted’s record is clear — he voted nine times to jack up premiums for more than half a million Ohioans,” Brown said in a statement released by his campaign. “Working families across Ohio are holding their breath for relief as their premiums skyrocket, and they know it won’t come from Jon Husted. Ohioans deserve a senator that fights to lower costs. Jon Husted has failed them at every turn.”
Brown’s campaign said that when asked whether he would vote to protect Ohioans’ health care by supporting lower premiums, Husted refused to commit to doing so. This all comes as data indicates that more than one in five Ohioans report difficulty paying medical bills.
During the Toledo meeting, Brown highlighted accounts shared by residents and released by his campaign. One Ohioan said rising premiums could force them to draw from savings or retirement accounts. Another resident, quoted by the campaign, said they were nearing “the point where [they’re] just starting to give up.”
Brown’s campaign also pointed to past remarks attributed to Husted in which he said he was “happy to be a contributor” to rising health care costs, and to statements in which Husted claimed enhanced ACA subsidies did “nothing to drive down the cost of health care.”
Husted’s office did not respond to the campaign’s claims in the materials released about the Toledo meeting.
