More than 220,000 Ohioans with mental illness or drug dependency could lose access to health-care services if the Affordable Care Act is repealed without a replacement, according to a new report released Wednesday by Harvard Medical School and New York University.
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.
The study also highlights figures from other states hard-hit by opioid addiction, including Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Ohio had 3,310 drug overdose deaths in 2015, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) said Wednesday repealing the ACA would interrupt treatment for many Ohioans.
“Just to be clear, in the last month of 2016, Congress voted to give $1.1 billion to states over the next two years to treat this epidemic, and in just the second week of 2017, they are voting to take $5.5 billion away over just one year,” Mr. Brown said in a statement, referring to the 21st Century Cures Act, which provides federal grant funding to states to combat opioid addiction.
“That’s taking one step forward and five steps back.”
Mr. Brown also supports the bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act, authored by U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) and signed into law last year.
Mr. Portman and other Republicans in Congress have called for a smooth transition between repealing the current health-care law known as Obamacare and any replacement so that Americans don’t lose health-care coverage.
“The skyrocketing costs of Obamacare are hurting families and small businesses all across Ohio,” said Portman press secretary Emily Benavides in a statement Wednesday. “Senator Portman is committed to ensuring there is a smooth transition for all Ohioans to a better health care system that also addresses key concerns about access to treatment for opioid addiction, mental health care, and other important issues.
He has led efforts in the U.S. Senate to combat the heroin crisis plaguing our state, including enacting the Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act, and he will continue to lead this fight to help those suffering from addiction.”
Days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Republicans are working on plans to repeal President Obama’s signature health-care law, though no replacement plan is in place.
Mr. Portman was one of five senators on Monday to submit an amendment to a budget resolution to allow more time to write a bill repealing the health-care law.
“I support repealing Obamacare and intend to again vote to do so,” Mr. Portman said in a statement this week. “Congress also should thoughtfully consider how we replace Obamacare, and we can do so by ensuring we go through the committee process.
“As we do so, we must ensure that Americans are able to retain their health care during the transition to a new system. This amendment will ensure that we move forward with a smart, responsible plan to replace the law as quickly as possible,” he said.
The Harvard and NYU study comes the same day as a report from the liberal think tank Policy Matters Ohio, stating that nearly 1 million Ohioans stand to lose health-care coverage if the Affordable Care Act is repealed in 2019.
Contact Lauren Lindstrom at llindstrom@theblade.com, 419-724-6154, or on Twitter @lelindstrom.
First Published January 12, 2017, 5:00 a.m.
