Health-care plan is harmful

The Senate health care bill would take health care away from 23 million Americans, including 539,700 Ohioans. Sen. Rob Portman must vote no.

At 25 years old, I have seen old friends, friends of friends and distant family members struggle hopelessly and lose to the opioid epidemic that is spiraling out of control in Ohio. Under the Senate’s proposed health-care bill, victims like these stand even less of a fighting chance than they did before.

Rehabilitation services are one of the several essential health benefits included in the Affordable Care Act currently in place — along with emergency services and mental-health care. These are three selfexplanatory, crucial benefits needed if we want to make a dent in a rampant drug crisis that has led to a national death spiral. A death spiral that Ohio’s own Montgomery County has claimed the top spot in the nation with 800 people estimated to die because of opioid overdoses this year alone; that’s more than double the death toll last year.

Not only will the Senate bill blatantly leave behind those who have fallen victim to the opioid crisis, but it will also increase outof-pocket costs, cause premiums to skyrocket, charge older Americans way more, take away coverage for basic benefits such as hospital stays and maternity care, return us to the days of lifetime caps, and far more, all while gutting Medicaid — meaning cuts to funds needed by families to pay for nursing-home costs; and treatment for substance abuse.

It’s no secret that the Affordable Care Act has flaws, but Portman should help fix them instead of taking us backward and plummeting our state further into a devastating drug epidemic that has already claimed the lives of too many. Voting yes on the Senate health care bill would be a vote directly against me, my family, my friends and all Ohioans.

Jessica Johnson Lisbon