Blog Post

Protecting Access to Affordable Health Care

Ohio’s uninsured rate has been cut more than half over the last five years. Richard Cordray will protect the bipartisan Medicaid expansion and work to expand coverage for Ohioans. As governor, Cordray will work to expand health insurance coverage for the more than 100,000 uninsured Ohio children while bringing local initiatives to combat rising infant mortality rates statewide, like Franklin County’s program Celebrate One. (Kaiser Family Foundation, accessed 6/6/18; Bloomberg, 5/7/18; Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/11/18; WKSU, 6/4/18)

More than 900,000 previously uninsured Ohioans have gained coverage since 2010. Despite those gains, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Mike DeWine wants to “at least partially dismantle” the bipartisan Medicaid expansion that he once praised for doing “a lot of good.” (Policy Matters Ohio, 1/11/17; Columbus Dispatch, 5/9/18; Ohio Democratic Party YouTube Channel, 6/26/17)

Combating the Opioid Crisis

The opioid epidemic kills more than 14 Ohioans every day. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio’s “drug overdose deaths rose 39 percent — the third largest increase” in the country between mid-2016 and mid- 2017. As governor, Richard Cordray will declare a state of emergency to battle the epidemic, protect funding for cities and counties and keep the health care that helps hundreds of thousands of Ohioans seek addiction treatment. (Columbus Dispatch, 2/12/18; WOSU, 4/3/18; Columbus Dispatch, 3/26/18)

Despite the fact that opioid deaths more than tripled while he was attorney general — the state’s top law enforcement officer — Mike DeWine wants to dismantle the program that provides coverage to treat 200,000 Ohioans for opioid addiction. (Politifact, 4/20/18; Columbus Dispatch, 5/9/18; Ohio Department of Health, accessed 6/14/18)

Fighting for Working Families

Despite gains that have been made, Ohio’s employment growth has lagged the national average over the last decade. Meanwhile, Michigan has seen the nation’s greatest percentage gain in employment during the same time. As governor, Cordray will work to create good-paying jobs by hiring a small-business chief to help companies with permits and low-interest loans and give 1.8 million Ohioans a raise by increasing the minimum wage to $15. (American Community Survey, accessed 6/8/18; Toledo Blade, 3/6/18; Dayton Daily News, 5/3/18; Policy Matters Ohio, 2/13/18; WOSU, 5/29/18)

Paid for by Working America. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.