With Medicaid cuts, rising health care costs and changes to vaccine policy shaping Ohio’s health landscape, Democratic candidate for governor Dr. Amy Acton says she has a plan to protect Ohioans. Ideastream Public Media's Taylor Wizner spoke with her about her viewpoints on everything from the largest measles outbreak in decades to continued raids by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Measles is surging nationally right now, with cases in parts of Ohio as well. What does that tell you about where Ohio's public health system is falling short?
A governor's number one job is to keep people safe and healthy and it's so important that we have public servants that we can trust. Our job is to help give good information to families so that they can make good choices about their health.
I know that families are scared. We have to acknowledge that there is a lot of vaccine hesitancy. I meet parents all over Ohio who love their kids, but maybe have gotten some false information about these vaccines.
This year already we have lost one child to influenza. Typically here in Ohio, we lose three to five children every year to flu, and that's something we don't always have a preventable solution to. It's so important that we get good health information out to keep people safe.
Do you think Ohio should make it harder to claim non-medical vaccine exemptions for schools and daycares?
I think it's very important that we give folks informed consent. It is really important to have that be ... informed by people who can help folks make good decisions. I do believe that there are exemptions, but they should be something that is done with a physician.
It is vitally important that we have herd immunity in diseases like measles that are very highly infectious and can be lethal, can also cause some things you have to live with, brain damage, vision problems, things that can last your whole life. So I think it's very important that we also help protect one another.
Federal officials recently moved to put several childhood vaccines into a shared decision-making category. Some providers are ignoring the new guidance and sticking with the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations. Where do you stand on this?
I feel very concerned about the leadership at Health and Human Services and (Secretary of HHS Robert F. Kennedy Jr.). Frankly, many of the things he's done have made him disqualified. Vaccines have been some of the most tested drugs ever out there.
We gained 30 years' life expectancy in the last century. Twenty-five years came from things we can only solve collectively. It came from clean water and a safe food supply, child labor laws, traffic laws. Now our life expectancy here in Ohio and across this country is going backwards.
I would recommend that we follow the advice of our academies and the people who have been doing this research. I can tell you as governor, when I appoint my cabinet, we'll be looking for the very best folks, because these decisions are so vitally important.
Along those lines, some states are forming public health alliances to coordinate on vaccines and share data. As governor, would you join one of these alliances or continue following federal guidance?
My job is to get Ohioans the best health information I can. We'll be looking to experts — sometimes they'll be federal, sometimes right here in Ohio from our universities and health institutions, often people with lived experiences.
Right now we are facing Medicaid cuts that are destroying rural hospitals and straining health systems like MetroHealth, here in Cleveland. People need to understand a Republican governor, John Kasich, expanded Medicaid, because it was the smart thing to do. When people are uninsured, all of our health care costs go up.
ICE activity across the country and here in Ohio has sparked protests and safety concerns, especially around schools. Some local agencies have said they won't assist federal enforcement. As governor, what role do you think the state or local agencies should play in immigration enforcement?
If people are here as criminals, if people are here illegally, we need to enforce the laws of this country and the laws of the state of Ohio. But we need to do that lawfully.
Ohioans everywhere I’m going, regardless of party, are heartbroken, they’re afraid, they are horrified (by the shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis). They want to see public safety. But they want our communities, our frontline responders, to be well-trained and be good at what they do.
Quite frankly, the Statehouse is not fully funding the local funds (for law enforcement training). As governor, I’m going to be investing in that. But we need (ICE activity) to be lawful and we need a full and transparent investigation (of Good's death).
Editor's note: this conversation has been edited for clarity.
