United States President Joe Biden walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 in Washington D.C., U.S, as he prepares to travel to Columbus, Ohio. Credit: Stefani Reynolds/Pool/Sipa USA via TNS
President Joe Biden visited the James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State Tuesday where he discussed his American Rescue Plan and marked the 11-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.
Biden spoke about how the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion relief package meant to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and provide financial assistance to businesses and individuals, limits health care costs and expands on the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act, which then-Vice President Biden helped pass, was signed into law by former President Barack Obama 11 years ago Tuesday.
The last time Biden visited Ohio State’s campus was in 2018 while he was campaigning for Ohio gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray.
Prior to speaking, Biden toured the James Cancer Hospital’s radiation oncology unit — which received $100 million in funding from the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
“With the American Rescue Plan and the Affordable Care Act, millions of families will be able to sleep a little more soundly at night because they don’t have to worry about losing everything if they get sick,” Biden said.
Parts of the American Rescue Plan, which Biden signed into law March 11, are meant to decrease health care costs by limiting insurance premium prices and encouraging states to expand Medicaid.
The bill also addresses the pandemic by creating a nationwide vaccination program, working to reopen schools and providing $1,400 per person to qualifying American households and individuals.
President Joe Biden takes a selfie with students in Sloopy’s Diner at the Ohio Union on Oct. 29, 2018. The last time Biden visited Ohio State’s campus was in 2018 while he was campaigning for Ohio gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | File Photo
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3) spoke before Biden and remarked on being senior vice president of outreach and engagement at Ohio State during the passage of the Affordable Care Act and seeing the burden lifted from students who were able to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they were 26 years old.
“I remember … seeing the relief on their faces and hearing in their voices that they wouldn’t have to be forced to go without health care coverage, not to mention the fact that preexisting conditions like cancer or just being a woman would no longer prevent more than 113 million Americans from getting treatment or kicked off their health insurance,” Beatty said.
Biden said by the end of May, roughly 600 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be available to the public, and his bill provides additional funding for more vaccination sites and personnel.
Biden ended his remarks by thanking the oncologists working to cure cancer at the James and other cancer centers. As vice president, Biden ran the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, which was created as part of the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016.
Biden emphasized how important cancer research was to him personally after the death of his son Beau Biden in 2015 due to brain cancer.
“When my son contracted stage four glioblastoma when he was coming home from Iraq, I had the opportunity, the president asked me to do what they called a cancer moonshot,” Biden said. “We had some of the finest minds in the world, and they’re right here.”
Ohio State President Kristina M. Johnson “reminisced” with Biden about the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which occurred when she was undersecretary of energy in the U.S. Department of Energy, and spoke about her own experiences with pediatric cancer, Johnson said.
“It was actually treated in a room like this, but 40 years ago, it was a little cruder and rudimentary,” Johnson said.
