Ed Mierzwinski
Senior Director, Federal Consumer Program, PIRG
Senior Director, Federal Consumer Program, PIRG
Ohio PIRG
Columbus, OH – Consumers and small businesses in Ohio will face significantly higher insurance premiums and could see costly coverage denials and price discrimination if efforts to repeal the federal health care law prevail in Congress or in the courts, according to The Cost of Repeal: Examining the Impact on Ohio of Repealing the New Federal Health Care Law, a new report released today by Ohio PIRG.
According to the report, in the short term, repeal would strip tax credits from 149,100 Ohio small businesses. And over the longer term, the cost of offering employer-based health insurance could jump by more than $3000 a year over current law.
“In today’s economy, the higher costs that would result from repeal are the last thing that Ohio consumers and businesses need,” said Jeff Griffin, Ohio PIRG Program Associate.
The new Ohio PIRG report draws on data from independent sources, including the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, other government agencies, business groups and health analysts, and finds the following:
The House is expected to consider a repeal bill later this month. Attorney General DeWine has indicated that he will sign Ohio onto a federal lawsuit urging the roll back of the law. And Washington’s intensely partisan debate over health care threatens to spill over to Columbus, as the Governor and state legislators consider key implementation decisions.
The Cost of Repeal recommends a set of pro-active policy changes on which supporters and opponents of last year’s health care law should be able to find common ground. These include:
1. Using the substantial authority the state has under current law to design a health insurance exchange that is adapted to meet the needs of our state’s markets, consumers, and businesses.
2. Taking additional steps to contain health care costs, like using information technology to ensure that doctors receive the latest research about which treatments are most effective – at the patient’s bedside.
3. Crack down on balance-billing, a practice whereby hospitals or providers accept payment from a patient’s insurance plan, then charge additional amounts-above and beyond the usual co-pays and cost sharing.
“Before our elected officials join this headlong rush to repeal in Washington, they should consider the consequences for our state, and look for solutions that hold down costs, not increase them,” said Griffin.