This week, the House passed the Trump-endorsed “big, beautiful” budget bill that could require cuts of up to $880 billion from Medicaid over the next ten years. This comes on the heels of new polling on the popularity of extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace tax credits and unpopularity of deep Medicaid cuts. Taken together, Congressional Republicans, already working with a historically slim majority, are flirting with a very dangerous agenda.
Medicaid Cuts
According to Politico, eleven Republicans in swing districts represent larger than average Medicaid populations, making their voting for deep Medicaid cuts particularly politically precarious. Across the country, nearly 24 percent of Americans are enrolled in Medicaid and would inevitably be harmed by Medicaid cuts of this size. TCF’s director of health care reform Jeanne Lambrew has estimated that $880 billion translates to the cost of covering:
- all 31 million children on Medicaid;
- 4.7 million older people; and
- 3.7 million people with disabilities on Medicaid.
Medicaid is a sprawling program that helps cover Americans in every phase of life—four of every ten births and nearly 60 percent of all nursing home costs are covered by Medicaid. It’s no wonder, then, that taking a “meat ax” to this program, in the words of Steve Bannon, is wildly unpopular. According to a January KFF poll, more than three in four Americans (77 percent) have a favorable opinion of Medicaid, which includes over half of Republicans (61 percent). In fact, a plurality of Americans believe we’re not spending enough on Medicaid (46 percent). An AP-NORC poll from January also found far more Americans think we are spending too little on Medicaid (55 percent) than too much (15 percent).
ACA Tax Hikes
As part of the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats in Congress made improvements to premium tax credits that lower health care costs for families who buy their health insurance through the exchanges. These tax cuts are set to expire this year and, if Republicans let them lapse, could result in four million people losing coverage. Marketplace enrollment increased by 88 percent since these tax cuts were passed, with increases clustered in Black and Latino communities. The 20 million Americans who are receiving this tax cut, most of whom are working class or entrepreneurs, will see their health care costs increase by an average of $800 unless the Republican-led Congress acts.
Extending these tax cuts for working people should be a no brainer politically. Earlier this month, Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio released a memo saying that 80 percent of Americans, including a super majority of Trump voters, are in favor of extending the health care tax cuts passed by Democrats (78 percent). The Fabrizio memo also shows that swing voters and Trump voters are concerned about their own personal financial situation and are concerned about the cost of living. Following a path that jacks up the cost of health coverage on people living paycheck to paycheck could have politically disastrous consequences if prices on other goods and services continue to rise as well.
Taken together, the data is clear: President Trump and Congressional Republicans are pursuing a deeply unpopular health care agenda that is going to leave Americans of all political persuasions wanting more action to lower costs and expand coverage.
Tags: health care, polling, medicaid cuts
Polling Shows Republican Health Care Agenda Deep Underwater
This week, the House passed the Trump-endorsed “big, beautiful” budget bill that could require cuts of up to $880 billion from Medicaid over the next ten years. This comes on the heels of new polling on the popularity of extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace tax credits and unpopularity of deep Medicaid cuts. Taken together, Congressional Republicans, already working with a historically slim majority, are flirting with a very dangerous agenda.
Medicaid Cuts
According to Politico, eleven Republicans in swing districts represent larger than average Medicaid populations, making their voting for deep Medicaid cuts particularly politically precarious. Across the country, nearly 24 percent of Americans are enrolled in Medicaid and would inevitably be harmed by Medicaid cuts of this size. TCF’s director of health care reform Jeanne Lambrew has estimated that $880 billion translates to the cost of covering:
Medicaid is a sprawling program that helps cover Americans in every phase of life—four of every ten births and nearly 60 percent of all nursing home costs are covered by Medicaid. It’s no wonder, then, that taking a “meat ax” to this program, in the words of Steve Bannon, is wildly unpopular. According to a January KFF poll, more than three in four Americans (77 percent) have a favorable opinion of Medicaid, which includes over half of Republicans (61 percent). In fact, a plurality of Americans believe we’re not spending enough on Medicaid (46 percent). An AP-NORC poll from January also found far more Americans think we are spending too little on Medicaid (55 percent) than too much (15 percent).
ACA Tax Hikes
As part of the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats in Congress made improvements to premium tax credits that lower health care costs for families who buy their health insurance through the exchanges. These tax cuts are set to expire this year and, if Republicans let them lapse, could result in four million people losing coverage. Marketplace enrollment increased by 88 percent since these tax cuts were passed, with increases clustered in Black and Latino communities. The 20 million Americans who are receiving this tax cut, most of whom are working class or entrepreneurs, will see their health care costs increase by an average of $800 unless the Republican-led Congress acts.
Extending these tax cuts for working people should be a no brainer politically. Earlier this month, Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio released a memo saying that 80 percent of Americans, including a super majority of Trump voters, are in favor of extending the health care tax cuts passed by Democrats (78 percent). The Fabrizio memo also shows that swing voters and Trump voters are concerned about their own personal financial situation and are concerned about the cost of living. Following a path that jacks up the cost of health coverage on people living paycheck to paycheck could have politically disastrous consequences if prices on other goods and services continue to rise as well.
Taken together, the data is clear: President Trump and Congressional Republicans are pursuing a deeply unpopular health care agenda that is going to leave Americans of all political persuasions wanting more action to lower costs and expand coverage.
Tags: health care, polling, medicaid cuts