More than one in four people in Allen County get their health coverage through Medicaid, including nearly half of our kids. Care keeps moving farther away, the overdose crisis is still taking neighbors, and one hospital bill can follow a family for years.
In June, the people who run the Statehouse tried to stop Medicaid from paying family caregivers. Families packed the hearing room, and the provision came out of the bill. That is the story of healthcare in Columbus right now: they will send you the bill unless someone makes them answer for it. What you pay for care is part of what it costs to live here, and the rest of that plan is on the economy page.
The short version
- Protect Medicaid for the one in four Allen County neighbors who count on it.
- Fight for care you can actually reach in Allen and Auglaize counties.
- Make every dollar you pay toward care count, so care costs less.
What I'll fight for in Columbus
- Protect Medicaid.
Medicaid covers 28,311 people in Allen County, more than one in four of us and nearly half of our children. Columbus leadership keeps pushing work requirements and paperwork barriers, even though the state's own projection says about 61,000 Ohioans would lose coverage, not for refusing to work, but for missing a form. In June, House Bill 795 nearly banned Medicaid payments to family caregivers here and across Ohio, and the provision came out only after families testified. I'll vote against every coverage cut dressed up as paperwork, and I'll keep that pressure on.
- Expand access to care where we actually live.
Allen County ranks 59th out of 88 Ohio counties for health outcomes. Lima is fortunate to still have two hospital systems, Mercy Health–St. Rita's and Lima Memorial, and we shouldn't take that for granted. Across rural Ohio, hospitals keep closing service lines, maternity care first, and the families farthest from town are the ones who feel it. I'll push for the state loan-repayment and residency dollars that bring doctors and nurses to shortage counties, and demand public notice and review before a hospital system closes a service line this district depends on.
- Lower what care costs, starting with a bill that already exists.
When a drugmaker or a charity helps cover your copay, many insurers take that money and still refuse to count it toward your deductible. Senate Bill 207, with a Republican and a Democrat as lead sponsors, would make every dollar paid on your behalf count. It was introduced over a year ago and is still sitting in committee. I'll fight for it, and if Columbus lets it die, I'll work to bring it back and vote for it.
I'll also fight for
- Treatment beds for the overdose crisis. Allen County lost 139 neighbors to overdoses in four years; I'll fight for the state dollars that build on We Care's new 17-bed crisis center in Lima instead of leaving local boards to fund it alone.
- The Ohio Medical Debt Fairness Act. House Bill 257 would cap interest on medical debt and keep it off your credit report; I'll vote for the strongest version of it.
- Insurance denials a person has to answer for. House Bill 579 would set rules for insurers that use artificial intelligence to deny claims; I'll push for it, and for insurers to report their denial rates publicly.
- Care for moms and babies. Ohio gets a D for preterm birth and ranks 48th of 52 for infant deaths; I'll fight for the maternity care rural Ohio keeps losing.
Our families deserve care they can count on. Join us.
GET INVOLVED "An Ohio You Can Afford." Ohio House Democrats have introduced a legislative package aimed at costs in healthcare, childcare, housing, energy, and consumer goods. Its healthcare piece is a state reinsurance program designed to bring down premiums on individual plans. Read the caucus announcement of the package
