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Issues with healthcare impact most Americans, and the constituents of Ohio District 85 are no different. It is my belief that healthcare is a right, and no one should be forced to sacrifice basic human needs or lose their homes because of medical bills or medical debt. While there are many other issues in healthcare that can be discussed, let’s start with that:
A Snapshot of District 85
Mary Rutan Hospital
“From 2023 until the end of 2025, Mary Rutan Hospital has sued around 2,800 patients for unpaid medical dues.” This has had a direct impact on residents of Logan County. (Source)
Undue Medical Debt
The Dayton Collaboratory and Undue Medical Debt have teamed up, along with other organizations, to buy up medical debt at a fraction of the actual cost. In 2025:
Logan County: raised the money to relieve $772,068 of medical debt for 751 people.
Shelby County raised the money to relieve $723,043 for 451 people. (Source)
The Champaign County Democratic Party will be working on this in 2026, and the debt there is much higher. They will need to raise $32,000 to relieve $5.2 million in debt.
The real issue with all of this is, why should the citizens of the state have to make donations to cover medical debt? Why aren’t our legislators allocating taxpayer dollars for this purpose? Ohio needs politicians who present common sense legislative solutions to keeping healthcare affordable.
Medical Debt Fairness Act
A current bill in the legislature includes a “3% cap on interest for medical bills, a prohibition on wage garnishment, and banning the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports.” As noted by Rep. Schmidt at a press conference announcing the bill, medical debt is “…not a partisan issue; this is a people issue.” (Source)
Ohio Medical Debt Fairness Act (HB 257)
NOT Co-Sponsored by Tim Barhorst (current District 85 Rep). In House Committee. Next step, moves to the Senate Committee.
Why the Money in Politics Matters
We know that executives of large healthcare corporations make donations to political campaigns in return for favors. Case in point is Centene. According to the Ohio Capital Journal, Centene is the largest Medicaid managed-care provider in the United States. Over the course of two decades, company executives have contributed $75,000 to Jon Husted’s campaign chest, with $29,000 coming after Centene paid $88.3 million to settle a lawsuit alleging Medicaid fraud in Ohio. Centene also hired a friend of Mike DeWine to lobby on its behalf, and it resumed doing business in Ohio despite the fraud allegations. As reported by the Ohio Capital Journal, Husted continues to complain about the Affordable Care Act and fraud, yet has nothing to say about Centene, a company that has benefited financially from the ACA and has been accused of fraud here in Ohio. (Source)