Monday, March 26, 2012YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Today marks the start of three days of hearings before the U.S. Supreme Court over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, an event that follows Friday's second anniversary of the landmark legislation being signed into law by President Obama.
On Friday the White House released a new report highlighting the benefits it says the act has brought. These include permitting 5 million young adults to remain on their parent’s insurance plan, Medicare savings of $635 on average for prescription drugs for 1 million people, a requirement that insurance companies spend at least 80% of premium dollars on health care and preventing them from raising premiums by 10% or more with no accountability, and prohibiting the denial of coverage to children because of preexisting conditions now, and to all Americans by 2014.
Ohio is among the two dozen states that have called on the Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of the act’s provisions.
"I have consistently said that I believe that the individual mandate requiring all Americans to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. That is why on my first day as attorney general, I authorized Ohio to join 25 other states in challenging the constitutionality of this law,” said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
The Affordable Care Act’s second anniversary prompted posturing on both ends of the political spectrum.
An event Friday took U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-6 Ohio, to Comfort Keepers in Youngstown, a home-care business owned by Jeff and David Mirkin. The Mirkins said they are concerned with what will happen to their business in 2014 if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is preserved in its present form.
The health-care reform act requires any business with more than 50 employees to provide health-care insurance options for the employees, a requirement Jeff Mirkin says could bankrupt Comfort Keepers.
“We would be looking at as much as $400,000 to make that insurance happen,” he said. “As a small business, we couldn’t afford it and would probably have to close our doors, putting 300 people out of work.”
Comfort Keepers, a non-medical home-care provider with over 300 clients, has been in business for over a decade.
“What we heard here about Comfort Keepers is just another sad story about how this mandate is going to affect them,” Johnson responded.
“This health-care law is going to cost Americans $1.7 trillion over 10 years,” the congressman said. “That was supposed to be a job creator, but it's going to put businesses out of business and kill jobs. It’s not the right thing for America.
Johnson is traveling to businesses throughout and near Ohio’s sixth district, talking to company owners about how the act will affect them. Comfort Keepers, 805 Mahoning Ave., is based in Ohio's 17th district, which is represented by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan.
“I’ve talked to businesses that are seeing anywhere from 45% and up increases in their health insurance premiums as they renew,” Johnson said.
The freshman Republican vowed to continue fighting the health-care reform laws, and cited the passage of a bill Thursday by the House of Representatives that would repeal the Independent Payment and Advisory Board to be set up in 2014 to make recommendations on cutting Medicare funding.
Jeff Mirkin says he and his brother are in favor of health care, but small businesses should not be forced to carry the cost burden.
“With the anticipation of it coming next year, we have to look at considering other options to salvage this particular business,” he said. “If it goes through, it could be devastating, maybe even to the point we could not survive.”
GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum issued a statement Friday criticizing what he described as “the prototype of socialized medicine,” the health reform law approved in Massachusetts by Santorum’s rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney, when he governed that state.
"It didn't take long for people in Massachusetts to realize Romneycare was a failure and it is already proving to be the same on the national level," Santorum said. "That's why I vow to repeal and replace Obamacare."
State Reps. Nickie J. Antonio, D-13 Lakewood, and John Patrick Carney, D-22 Columbus, marked the second anniversary of the act’s passage by calling for action on House Bill 412, which would establish the Ohio Health Benefit Exchange Agency. The federal health reform law requires states to implement their own exchanges with an extension by Aug. 1, or the federal government will create an exchange for them. Thus far, the Kasich administration has not moved forward with a plan.
As of June 2011, according to a joint statement by Antonio and Carney, 81,922 young adults in Ohio gained insurance coverage as a result of the new health care law. Insurance companies no longer will place a cap on lifetime spending, allowing those with chronic illness and cancer to access the care they need. Pre-existing conditions are no longer a factor as 2,137 Ohioans who were previously unable to obtain coverage were able to acquire insurance last year because of the health reform law.
“The new law has already helped women and families in Ohio to receive affordable access to health care. I believe we must create the Ohio health benefit exchange to continue to improve economically and foster the health and well being of our citizens,” Antonio said.
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.