Biden to promote relief package in Ohio next week

President Biden will travel to Ohio next week to promote his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and mark the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act becoming law.

The trip to Columbus marks a foray into a red state for Biden to tout the American Rescue Plan, which he signed into law last week. Ohio is the third state Biden will visit as part of the “Help is Here” tour to promote the law, and he is expected to focus specifically on how the legislation lowers health care costs.

Additional financial assistance to help ObamaCare enrollees afford their health insurance premiums will become available starting April 1 under the American Rescue Plan, administration officials said.

Biden previously reopened enrollment for the Affordable Care Act in an effort to expand health insurance access. Uninsured people have until May 15 to sign up for coverage, and existing enrollees can also change their plans before that date.

The president traveled to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to promote benefits for small businesses in the legislation, and he will be joined by Vice President Harris in Georgia on Friday to tout the relief law.

While Biden won both Pennsylvania and Georgia in the 2020 election, he lost Ohio to former President Trump by 8 percentage points despite traveling there in the final days of the campaign. Ohio will be critical to Democratic hopes of retaining the Senate majority in 2022, as Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) has said he will not seek reelection.

Democrats are hoping that by keeping the American Rescue Plan popular in the months ahead, it will boost their chances in the 2022 midterms.