The Indicator from Planet Money - Slender Starbucks, Medicaid at risk, and the gold card visa

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

It's Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at interesting numbers from the news. On today's show, we have potential cuts ahead for Medicaid, Starbucks goes back to basics and gold card immigration. Related episodes:How Magic Johnson's Starbucks created new neighborhood businesses (Apple / Spotify)What's missing in the immigration debate (Apple / Spotify)For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

NPR. This is the Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Whalen Wong. And joining me today all the way from Denver, Colorado, Indicator producer, Cooper Katz McGim. I've been released from behind the producer curtains. And joining me and Waylon Wong, our Planet Money pal won Kenny Malone.

Yes. Oh, Cooper, you can hear the high altitude, the low oxygen. It's sounding great. Yay. And we are gathered here for one reason and one reason only. Indicators of the week. That is right.

It is our weekly look at interesting numbers from the news. On today's show, we have. Danger ahead for Medicaid. Gold card immigration and... Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just reading the script. Starbucks did what now? Coming up after the break.

It's indicators of the week. Waylon, what do you have? My indicator comes from Capitol Hill, where a Republican budget resolution has passed the House. This proposed budget calls for trillions. of dollars in tax cuts and spending cuts. And I wanted to focus on one part of this budget framework, which directs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to cut spending by $880 billion over the next decade.

Trump change. That is my indicator, $880 billion. And I'm bringing it up because these massive cuts could affect Medicaid. Medicaid is the program that provides health care for low-income Americans. Yes. It also covers elderly and disabled Americans. and about one in five people in the U.S. are enrolled in Medicaid. I mean, this is one of the programs like Social Security.

It's seen as untouchable, right? Well, it's important to note that the House budget resolution does not single out Medicaid for cuts, but this Energy and Commerce Committee oversees Medicaid, and you've got analysts and even some Republican lawmakers saying that the likeliest scenario to get to this huge number, 880 billion, is by slashing Medicaid. It's just the math.

So what might these cuts actually look like? House Speaker Mike Johnson has said we're not going to see huge cuts and benefits for people who, quote, rightly deserve them. He says the program needs to get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse. The refrain we've been hearing, yes. Yes, yes. And some Republican lawmakers have talked about imposing work requirements on some Medicaid recipients or limiting how much money the federal government pays to states. Which I imagine that some GOP reps and senators will not be happy about? Yes.

So what's next for the budget? Well, this budget resolution is leading up to a wonky process called reconciliation. Basically means that if the House and Senate can agree on a budget, it can get expedited through the Senate. So this process helps avoid a filibuster in the Senate. Otherwise, the GOP would need 60 votes. And with their current numbers, that's unlikely to happen. All right. Well, we don't want you to filibuster indicators of the week, Whalen, so please.

But I was going to read the dictionary. No dictionary reading West Wing over there. Let's move on. Cooper. What is your indicator? My indicator is $5 million. That's how much it would cost to pay for a single gold card. It's like a golden ticket.

Was this Willy Wonka? Pokemon, or was that a Pokemon card? It is in fact neither. President Trump announced the gold card. It's less fun. President Trump announced the gold card program this week, which is basically a new path to U.S. citizenship for foreigners. It would replace a similar program called EB-5,

where foreign investment would result in a green card for a lot less money. How much less than $5 million? So we're typically at $1 million of investment for the EB-5 program, and it comes with conditions. Okay. Like investment must go into a company

that'll either keep or create 10 full-time jobs. For the gold card, there are no conditions, at least not yet. The idea is that it would bring in wealthy people paying lots of taxes, spending lots of money, employing lots of people.

Trump threw around some numbers that if like a million people bought the cards, it would bring in $5 trillion dollars. Okay, that is true in terms of back of the napkin calculation, but are there a million people who are going to buy this golden visa? Immigration experts think no. There just aren't that many people who can afford the program. And, I mean, we already have some idea. The U.S. already has this EB-5 program. A few years ago, that brought in like 8,000 people, which is, hold on back to the... It's not a million.

Yeah, it's less than a million. Yeah. It's less than a million. Well, I mean, other countries have a similar program, right? Like Spain, Canada, Italy. Is there evidence on how well those programs have worked? A joint study between Harvard and the London School of Economics in 2021 said these programs had a, quote, negligible economic impact. And in fact, the EU is trying to end these programs because they have negative effects on, like, raising housing costs

and open the door for tax evasion and money laundering, fun things like that. There is still a lot to unpack about this program, though, like, who can apply? Russian oligarchs, maybe? Also, is this even legal, or would it need congressional approval? That said, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik said the cards could be available in as soon as two weeks. He's over at Kinko's with the golden cardstock. I mean, gold is doing pretty well right now.

That is my indicator up next. We have Kenny Malone. All right, so my indicator this week is 13. 13 is the number of drinks that, according to the Associated Press, will next week vanish from the Starbucks menu as part of an effort to turn things around. You know, Starbucks has been struggling. They announced a round of corporate layoffs this week. They got this new CEO in from Chipotle. And he has initiated a plan to, quote, get back to Starbucks, which means basically trying to be less like a human drive-thru for a gazillion drinks and more like.

like the third space they used to be where people would sit and hang out and work. And have I ever told you, too, that back in the day I saw a customer working from a Starbucks with their own full-sized printer that they had, like, brought in? Yes. That's amazing. I mean, this was like peak heyday of Starbucks as a third space, which you all have done an awesome episode about actually. And look, part of this new effort to go back is also simplifying the menu back to the basics,

which is why these 13 drinks. are disappearing next week. And so, you know, of course, before they disappear, I had to hear, I've got a little white hot chocolate. Also ordered the Royal English record rocker. I also got, this is the chocolate cookie crumble crem fratito. Oh my gosh, this is more caffeine than any human is supposed to ingest in a two-minute period, Kenny.

This is how it's meant to be consumed right here. I'm worried. I did that one all in one sip. Well, I have to say, Kenny, the stakes in my house are very high because I've got a little tween with some very specific Starbucks needs. So can I ask, is the strawberry assayeat lemonade refresher on the hit list? Iced macho lemonade is going away. Asaie lemonade, no.

Not here, no. Okay. How about the Moka Cookie Crumble Frappuccino? Is that different from the white chocolate Moka Frapecino? I think so. Okay. Then no, yours is not going away. whatever I just said is going away.

Okay. Thank God. Yeah, I'm glad it could help. As someone who only orders a decaf coffee, have they said why these 13 drinks specifically are going away? Is the decaf coffee going away? There's no word on decaf coffee going away. Starbucks says that these items are not commonly purchased, that they have a close-ish

substitute that will still be on the menu. And I think probably most critically, they are complex to make. And one of the key talking points has been getting weight times down and simplifying life for the bristers. You know, fewer items, done better and faster. This is what they are hoping will turn things around at Starbucks. Oh, wait, I just remember it. I really like the London fog latte. Is that on the bubble?

No. The LFL. Not on the list. No LFL. Although yet, Starbucks says 30% of the menu will be gone by the end of the fiscal year. So I don't know. I don't know. Drink them while you got them.

pour one out, whichever makes more sense. You're supporting them single-handedly. The National Zoo Woodley Park location is doing gangbusters on indicator recording days. Cheers, y'all. To the drinks that will go away. Well, thank you, Kenny, and thank you, Cooper, for a fun indicators of the week. Thanks for letting me out behind the producer curtain. You talk like they have you in a cage, Cooper.

Jeez. Is that true? Blink twice. I have so much sunlight. It's great. Oh, great. This episode was produced by Angel Carreras, with engineering by Gilly Moon.

It was fact check by Sierra Juarez. Kate Kincanon is our editor and the indicators of production of NPR.