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Biden touts rescue plan, tours Ohio State cancer facility in Columbus
Reporting from pool reports
President Joe Biden touted the recently passed COVID-19 rescue package during a visit to Columbus Tuesday evening, highlighting the child tax credit and earned income tax credit included in the American Rescue Plan.
Biden said the U.S. will have, by the end of May, roughly 600 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, “enough for every American.” He also noted the $1,400 direct payment checks and said “by tomorrow, we will have distributed 100 million of those checks.”
Biden spoke at the Ohio State campus in Columbus and toured Ohio State’s James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, thanking doctors and staff.
“This place is a source of hope,” he said.
Biden said he wants to push Congress to develop new government investments to deliver new research breakthroughs for cancer and other diseases.
“I know we can do this,” he said. “America does big things.”
The White House put out a backgrounder on the rescue plan and its impact on Ohio before the event.
Some highlights:
The White House also highlighted how they say the American Rescue Plan would lead to the largest premium reduction and coverage expansion since the ACA.
Specifically, the release said, the ARP will:
The Ohio Republican Party took a less enthusiastic view of the signature package, putting out a release before Biden’s appearance saying that “today is not the day for a PR tour to spike the football on a $1.9 trillion ‘relief’ bill that does next to nothing to combat the COVID-19 crisis.”
The Biden Administration release touted accomplishments on covid vaccinations, noting that vaccines have been made available to more than 800 pharmacies, including Kroger, Rite Aid, CVSm Walmart, Walgreens, CPESN (an independent pharmacy network), and Meijer.
They also pointed to partnerships with 24 Health Centers to provide them with direct vaccine allocations.
“Three were onboarded in the first phase of the program, in Akron, Cincinnati, and Lima, and 21 are being onboarded over this next five-week phase, in Akron, Chillicothe, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Hamilton, Ironton, Lancaster, Mansfield, Marion, Portsmouth, Sandusky, and Youngstown,” a release said. “Combined, they have sites at over 150 different locations across the state.”
Meanwhile, the Buckeye Institute think tank also took Biden’s visit as an opportunity to slam the administration, calling the rescue package “the latest unnecessary Washington spending bill.”
“These one-size-fits-all solutions will only lead to higher taxes and fewer health care options for Ohioans. This is not the prescription Ohio needs to fight the pandemic,” their release said.
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