NEW REPORT: Up To 120,000 Ohioans Lose Coverage Under Jon Husted’s Health Care Crisis

NEW REPORT: Up To 120,000 Ohioans Lose Coverage Under Jon Husted's Health Care Crisis

January 22, 2026

Columbus Dispatch: 'Ohio saw the second-largest percentage decline in signups in the nation'

Columbus, Ohio - New reporting shows that 120,000 fewer Ohioans have signed up for coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace compared to last year after Jon Husted refused to support extending the ACA tax credits and lowering health care costs.

Last year, Husted voted nine times last year against lowering health care premiums for Ohio families. Because of Husted's votes, health care costs have skyrocketed for an estimated 583,000 Ohioans, forcing tens of thousands of Ohioans to forgo coverage altogether.

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

"Because Jon Husted refused to act, 120,000 fewer Ohioans have health care through the ACA. Husted voted nine times against lowering premium costs, and now families across Ohio are paying the price - with fewer people insured and more people forced to go without health care."

See For Yourself:

Columbus Dispatch: Fewer Ohioans enroll for ACA health care plans after subsidies lapse

• The number of Ohioans getting health care through the Affordable Care Act dropped 20% after extra assistance for enrollees expired last year.

• About 463,000 people have signed up for coverage this year, down 120,000 from 2025, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

• Ohio saw the second-largest decline in signups by percentage behind North Carolina. Enrollment could dip even further throughout the year if people are unable to pay their premiums and lose coverage, according to KFF, a health care policy nonprofit.

• The GOP-controlled U.S. House and Senate let the enhanced credits expire after the issue dominated the longest government shutdown in history.

• As a result, Ohioans who use the marketplace could face higher costs. An adult in Franklin County earning $50,000 may spend $1,700 more on health care, according to estimates from KFF.

Read more about Husted's Health Care Crisis:

• Jon Husted has voted 9 times against lowering premium costs for Ohio families and claimed the ACA tax credits have done "nothing to drive down the cost of health care."

• When asked how best to help working families afford health insurance, Jon Husted said the ACA tax credits were "not the way to go about it."

• More than half a million Ohioans are seeing their healthcare premiums get more expensive or are forgoing coverage entirely after Jon Husted allowed tax credits that help families afford coverage to expire.

• Ohio families are seeing their premiums increase by an average of $804 a year because Jon Husted refused to take action to extend the ACA tax credits.

• Instead of coming up with a solution to help lower costs, Jon Husted complained that Ohioans' "work ethic is broken" and lectured families to simply "earn more" money to make ends meet.

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