YOUNGSTOWN — David Pepper, the Democratic lieutenant governor nominee, criticized Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican gubernatorial frontrunner, for calling Medicare and Medicaid a mistake.

“We need to be finding solutions to these issues, and any governor who believes that Medicaid and Medicare are mistakes is obviously very dangerous to the health care of millions of Ohioans,” Pepper said during a Monday news conference at the Mahoning County Democratic Party headquarters.

Pepper added, “This isn’t a surprise coming from Vivek Ramaswamy. There are a lot of ways in which he appears consistently out of touch with the needs of everyday Ohioans. But it’s still something that we should all be paying attention to because of how important Medicaid and Medicare are to Ohioans and because the costs that are now being imposed on Ohioans are already too high.”

Pepper is the running mate of Dr. Amy Acton, the only Democrat gubernatorial candidate and the state’s health director during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ramaswamy faces two Republicans in his party’s governor race.

During an October 2024 appearance on the Ezra Klein podcast, before he was a governor candidate, Ramaswamy was asked if Medicare and Medicaid were mistakes.

Ramaswamy responded, “I believe they were with the benefit of retrospect, particularly Medicaid, particularly the welfare state without work attachments required.”

Connie Luck, Ramaswamy’s campaign spokesperson, said, “Amy Acton has caused more damage to health outcomes in Ohio than any public official in the history of our state. When our state’s elected leaders instructed her to correct her mistakes, she quit. Her far-left approach would drive up health care costs and everyday expenses for all Ohioans, while suppressing take-home pay and economic growth. By contrast, Vivek’s vision for Ohio focuses on real reforms to deliver lower costs and bigger paychecks, not empty promises and government takeovers.”

Pepper said more than 2.5 million Ohioans rely on Medicare for their health care, and more than 3 million depend on Medicaid for it.

Pepper said, “You rip away Medicaid and Medicare, not only do you rip away the final lifeline for many Ohioans, but as Dr. Acton says all the time, everyone else’s costs go up as well. When you have to start paying for those health procedures and health care in other ways, we all pay more.”

Pepper added about Ramaswamy, “In a time when costs are too high, the real mistake would be electing someone to the governor’s office who has such disdain for those programs that are so important for Ohioans.”

If Acton is elected, Pepper said she would look at ways to relieve medical debt, push to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, require transparency in health care costs and “shore up Medicaid as it’s being attacked.”

Joining Pepper at the news conference was Dr. Alexis Smith, a radiologist from Youngstown and Democratic activist.

Smith said Medicare and Medicaid are not mistakes and are “critical to keeping our state healthy.”

Smith said, “Without these critical programs, my patients could see their costs skyrocket or be forced to go without care entirely.”