Study: More than 200k Ohioans would lose addiction, mental health care ACA repeal

More than 220,000 people in Ohio may be unable to afford care for mental illness or drug addiction if congressional Republicans scrap the 2010 health-care law without passing a substitute measure, according to a new national report (Source: “Report: Repeal of health-care law will affect those treating drug addiction, mental illness,” Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 11, 2017).

A study released Wednesday by Harvard Medical School and New York University predicts that not only would nearly 1 million people in Ohio lose health coverage through Medicaid or federally subsidized private insurance policies, but thousands would have to find other ways to pay for substance-abuse treatment at a time when deaths in Ohio because of prescription-drug and heroin abuse are at record highs.

An estimated 220,512 Ohioans suffering from mental illness or drug abuse would lose access to mental health services if the ACA is repealed, according to the study. Of those, 151,257 were enrolled as part of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.