All but one of the Ohio Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted “yes” on the childishly named One Big Beautiful Bill Act. U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, of Troy, noted “no” because he thinks its cuts aren’t deep enough.
A June 12 letter that U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, of Massachusetts, and other Democrats sent President Trump, Senate Republican Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, called Republicans’ attention to the damage GOP-proposed Medicaid cuts would likely do to small community hospitals.
The letter cited research by the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “providing detailed information about rural hospitals that are uniquely at risk of financial distress and even closure, conversion, or service reductions because of [House] Medicaid cuts.”
Five of the 11 Ohio rural hospitals believed at risk thanks to are in western or southern Ohio. Their (all Republican) federal and state legislators include Sens. Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno. Imperiled hospitals are in:
Greenville (Darke County): Wayne Hospital. Legislators: Davidson, of Troy; State Sen. Steve Huffman, of Tipp City (a physician who graduated from what’s now the University of Toledo’s School of Medicine and Life Sciences), and Sen. Susan Manchester, of Waynesfield; and State Reps. Angela King, of Celina, and Johnathan Newman, of Troy. In 2024, Darke County cast 82% of its vote for President Trump.
Jackson (Jackson County): Holzer Medical Center; U.S. Rep. David Taylor, of Amelia (Clermont County); State Sen. Shane Wilkin, of Hillsboro; and former Speaker Jason Stephens, of Lawrence County’s Kitts Hill. In 2024, Jackson County cast 78% of its vote for President Trump.
Portsmouth (Scioto County): Southern Ohio Medical Center; Taylor, of Amelia; State Sen. Terry Johnson, of McDermott (a physician who graduated from Ohio University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine); and State Rep. Justin Pizzulli, of Scioto County’s Franklin Furnace. In 2024, Scioto County cast 74% of its vote for President Trump.
Seaman (Adams County): Adams County Regional Medical Center; Taylor, of Amelia; Johnson, of McDermott; and Pizzulli, of Franklin Furnace. In 2024, Adams County cast 83% of its vote for President Trump.
Washington Court House (Fayette County): Fayette County Memorial Hospital; U.S. Rep. Mike Carey, of Columbus; Hillsboro’s Wilkin; and State Rep. Bob Peterson, of Fayette County’s Jasper Township. In 2024, Fayette County cast 77% of its vote for President Trump.
Meanwhile, Medicaid cuts may also imperil six more community hospitals in northern or eastern Ohio. They are:
Bucyrus Community Hospital, in Crawford County, which cast 76% of its 2024 vote for President Trump;
Galion Hospital (also in Crawford County, and parts of Morrow and Richland counties).
Harrison County’s Harrison Community Hospital, in Cadiz. Harrison cast 77% of its 2024 vote for President Trump.
Coshocton County’s Coshocton Regional Medical Center, in Coshocton. The county cast 75% of its 2024 vote for President Trump.
Tuscarawas County’s Twin City Hospital, in Dennison. Tuscarawas cast 71% of its 2024 vote for President Trump.
Columbiana County’s East Liverpool City Hospital. In 2024, Columbiana cast 74% of its vote for President Trump.
Voters need to remind GOP big-shots that Medicaid’s a life-and-death matter for one in four Ohioans. That includes all the rural- and small-town voters that send Republicans to Washington and Columbus to work for Ohio’s communities. Not against them.
Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. You can reach him at tsuddes@gmail.com.
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