As a heated race for the U.S. Presidency draws nearer, the Ohio Democratic Party is out stumping for the DNC.
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Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper paid visits to Ironton and Chillicothe in southern Ohio on Wednesday.
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Chairman Pepper stopped into Chillicothe’s United Steelworkers Local 731 to speak on what he calls President Donald Trump’s broken promises on health care.
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"Like a lot of other things, he made a lot of pretty bold promises that he wasn't going to touch people's insurance and that he was going to fight the pharmaceutical companies and negotiate lower prices," said Chairman Pepper. "The truth is, he's done a lot of tweeting and a lot of other things, and none of that has happened."
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Citing a report from Cleveland.com, Chairman Pepper said Ohio was one of eight states that saw its uninsured rate jump in 2018. He said one group that has been particularly hard-hit is Ohio kids.
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“For years after the Affordable Care Act, the uninsured rate in Ohio dropped by a lot, it dropped by half. That included children. Since Trump’s been President, the uninsured rate has increased,” said Chairman Pepper. “The children’s uninsured rate has gone up like 28-percent. About 30-thousand kids are now not insured who were. And we all know that drug prices despite efforts in the House to lower them, nothing has been done beyond that and drug prices are going up.”
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Chairman Pepper also spoke on a lawsuit undertaken by Republicans to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act, passed into law under the Obama Administration in 2010. He said if the President and Republicans are successful, it would negatively impact those with pre-existing conditions.
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“Maybe the worst part though is that they are in court right now trying to stop the Affordable Care Act,” said Chairman Pepper. “If they are successful, and this is Trump and a bunch of Republicans, the Affordable Care Act will go away and so will protections for those with pre-existing conditions.”
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Chairman Pepper also said a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would as lead to negative economic consequences.
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“So many Ohio jobs, private sector jobs, are tied to healthcare. So if they succeed in getting rid of the Affordable Care Act, the Ohio Hospital Association has said that puts in jeopardy one out of every four Ohio hospitals,” said Chairman Pepper. “The most at-risk hospitals would be those in rural Ohio that aren’t quite as big as the ones in our big cities.”
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Pepper wrapped up by touting the efforts by Democrats to reduce prescription drug costs, and fight for those with pre-existing conditions.
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“The Democrats have passed a law in the House which would work very hard to reduce drug costs, and it has not moved forward in the Senate, and the President hasn’t signed it,” said Chairman Pepper. “The other thing the Democrats will do is to continue to fight to support for those with pre-existing conditions.”
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Chairman Pepper was joined at the United Steelworkers Local 731 by Ohio House candidate Beth Workman and congressional candidates Joel Newby and Daniel Kilgore.