NEW REPORTING: Jon Husted Protected Nursing Homes Who Dumped Seniors At Homeless Shelters

NEW REPORTING: Jon Husted Protected Nursing Homes Who Dumped Seniors At Homeless Shelters

August 25, 2026

TiffinOhio: Ohio nursing homes dumped residents at homeless shelters. Jon Husted helped make them harder to sue.

COLUMBUS, OHIO - New reporting reveals that Jon Husted protected abusive and neglectful nursing homes that dumped seniors at homeless shelters across Ohio.

This follows previous reporting from NBC 4 Columbus showing Husted has taken "more than a million dollars from the nursing home industry, executives, and lobbyists" after he pushed for the passage of legislation that "shielded Ohio nursing homes from liability, even in wrongful death and abuse cases."

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

"Jon Husted said Ohioans' work ethic is broken and championed legislation to slash Social Security and Medicare - and now reporting reveals he protected the abusive nursing home industry that kicked Ohio seniors to the curb after taking more than $1 million from the industry and its lobbyists. Jon Husted sided with special interests over Ohio seniors, and he can't be trusted."

Read more:

TiffinOhio: Ohio nursing homes dumped residents at homeless shelters. Jon Husted helped make them harder to sue

• Federal inspectors have faulted seven Ohio nursing homes in recent years for discharging residents to homeless shelters - people who could not manage their own medications, who used walkers, who in at least one case did not know who had dropped them off.

• The state's largest long-term care lobby says the problem is bigger than any one facility and that Ohio needs to step in. The senator on Ohio's ballot in November helped write the law that made those facilities harder to sue.

• U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, was one of 45 House members who cosponsored House Bill 412 in 2002, a measure that folded nursing homes and residential care facilities into Ohio's legal definition of a "medical claim."

• That change cut the window for filing suit against them from two years to one and barred state inspection findings from being introduced in court. Husted has since accepted more than $1 million in campaign contributions from the nursing home industry, its executives and lobbyists, NBC4 in Columbus reported this month.

• Federal Election Commission records show the American Health Care Association's political action committee - OHCA is that group's only chartered Ohio affiliate - gave Husted for Senate $1,000 on Aug. 26, 2025 and another $1,000 on June 15, 2026. NBC4 reviewed Husted's most recent campaign finance report and found more than a dozen nursing home PACs or lobbyists have given at least $34,000 to his Senate campaign so far.

• The example was raised by Norm Wernet, president of the Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans, a labor-affiliated group that pushes for home- and community-based care and argues the nursing home industry lobbies against it.

• "Wrong to see that somebody like Sen. Husted, when he was in the legislature, would co-sponsor a bill that, in fact, avoided the liability on the nursing homes," Wernet told the station. "So that, that's one example of how the politicians get continued support again and again."

Jon Husted can't be trusted to fight for Ohio seniors:

• Jon Husted protected nursing homes facing lawsuits for wrongful death and elder abuse, pushing through an industry-backed bill when he served in the state legislature.

• Husted has taken more than $1 million from nursing home executives and lobbyists throughout his career, including more than $34,000 for his Senate campaign.

• Husted's campaign took more than $60,000 from the Ohio Health Care Association PAC, executives, and lobbyists, while the organization lobbied on behalf of at least five nursing home facilities that left elderly patients at homeless shelters.

• Husted championed legislation that would force massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare, which millions of Ohio seniors rely on.

• Husted cast the deciding vote for the largest cut to Medicaid in history, ripping coverage from 490,000 Ohioans and putting at least eleven rural Ohio hospitals on the brink of closure.

###