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Democrats Lean On Messages About Medicaid Cuts

August 13, 20250 comments♥ 0
00:00Support for NPR and the following message come from the Walton Family Foundation,working to create access to opportunity for people and communities by tackling tough social and environmental problems.More information is at walton family foundation.org.Hey, it's Eric.And Erica?And we're currently laying out under the stars in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.His podcast was recorded at...108 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, August 13th, 2025.
00:30Things may have changed by the time you listen to it, but hopefully we'll still be enjoying our public lands.Enjoy the show.How cute is that Eric and Erica under the stars?Very peaceful.Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast.I'm Sarah McCammon.I cover politics.I'm Barbara's friend.
00:50I cover Congress.And I'm Don Gagne.I, too, cover politics.And today on the show, while Congress is in its August recess, lawmakers,especially Democratic lawmakers, have been talking about Medicaid. That's because the tax and spending billthat Congress passed last month cuts the health care program, which many elderly, low income, and disabledAmericans rely on. Don, you've spent some time at town halls in Michigan. What are you hearing fromthe Democratic politicians at these events? One of the reasons I'm particularly interested in the state
01:21of Michigan, beyond the fact that it's a big swing state in elections, the Michigan Departmentof Health and Human Services estimates that as many as 700,000 people in the state could losetheir Medicaid coverage because of this bill. And of course, those town halls, lots of them,they've been in Marquette, they've been in the Lower Peninsula, in the Detroit suburbs,in Monroe County, and let me play a clip of tape from one of them.This one, sponsored by the Michigan Democratic Party, drew a crowd to a local union hallto hear U.S. Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona.Here he basically describes the GOP as bowing down to Donald Trump.
02:08A lot of them really talked a good game.Probably saw that, right?I mean, there are, you know, members who were like, well, we can't cut funding toMedicaid? This is a bad decision. This came from Republicans. But ultimately, you saw whathappened. You know, they tend to fall in line. These are Democratic town halls, right? This one wasat a union hall, the audience mostly Democrats. They are certainly angry. They are certainlyfrustrated. And I do hear from them that they're just looking to be involved in some wayat this point. They don't want to sit home and do nothing and yell at their television or their
02:54phone. So I'm hearing from people that they expect to be engaged, they expect to be active.But again, we are still way over a year from the next federal election.And Barbara, how does this messaging from Democrats about Medicaid compare with what you'rehearing from Republicans? Well, the messaging is also aboutparts of the one big, beautiful bill, really touting elements that they think are going to be welcomedby their constituents, things like no taxes on tips or overtime, something President Trump, of course,campaigned on, investments in border security and ICE, very important, of course, to the GOP base.And then the message of, hey, if we didn't pass this, you would have had to pay about $3,000 more
03:40dollars a year. And that's, of course, because this legislation makes those 2017 tax cuts permanent.And they're also talking about Medicaid, you know, the very thing that Democrats are talking about, but for different reasons.Republican lawmakers say there is support for things like work requirements for Medicaid.You know, they frame this as something that will overhaul and ultimately strengthen the program.Now, this is complicated a little bit by a latest report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.It gives a little more fodder for Democrats on their own messaging, makes it a little bit harder for Republicans.Their newest report predicts this new law.will not only boot millions of low-income Americans off of Medicaid and federal food
04:20assistance, but that financial resources for the lowest 10% of households by income will fallby 3.1% because of cuts to programs like Medicaid. And on the flip side, the richest Americanswill see earnings rise by an average of 2.7% driven by tax cuts. So that does complicate thisa bit as these parties try to message. Democrats seem eager to talk to their constituents aboutMedicaid, they're holding these town halls. What about Republicans in that regard?It's a little different. I mean, I will say I check every day to see if there are moreGOP town halls listed. There are some, there have been some, not as many as Democrats, certainly.This isn't really surprising. The NRCC, the National Republican Congressional Committee,
05:05has previously encouraged its members to avoid town halls, which they say can often be overtakenby Democratic activists and lead to viral moments. Instead of state,sticking to smaller, you know, more targeted events with constituents.Things like going to hospitals to talk about the impact of no taxes on overtime.Same thing in restaurants with talking about no taxes on tips.That being said, there have been some GOP town halls.Nebraska Congressman Mike Flood is one of the folks that has had one.He faced lots of shouts and backlash.
05:38And he did address Medicaid defending those work requirements.If you are able to work and you are able-bodied,you have to workif you choose not to workyou do not get free health careyou do not get free health careand I think we have to be a little cautiousin drawing big conclusions
06:01from these individual town hallswhere we see lots of shoutinglike we can hear in that tapeyou know there's an understandable tendencyI think to look at that and sayoh my gosh look at the outragelook at all the shouting at a Republican town hallthat must mean the dynamic in this district
06:14is shifting especiallyas everyone is trying to read the tea leaves for the midterms next year.We have to remember that there are a lot of activists and democratic organizers who do showup to these town halls.So it's not always the best representation of the mood in the district.That's not to say that there aren't town halls where outrage from constituents of thesame party as the member does bubble up.I remember in 2017 when Republican lawmakers were pushing to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act.
06:42And that was a very common occurrence.So it does happen. We just have to be cautious about overgeneralizing.You know, a question for both of you, Don and Barbara. I mean, beyond the messaging, I wonder, is thestrategy, either for Republicans or Democrats, is it different depending on what state they'rerepresenting, what they think their constituents want? Or are you seeing more of a unified messageand strategy nationwide?What you are seeing is a Democratic Party that thinks it has an issue it can seize. And theyare doing that and they hope to shine as big of a spotlight on it as possible.
07:20Yeah, I agree with Don. And I think if anything, instead of it being state to state where we'll seesome differences, there could be tweaks from district to district. I mean, particularly on thehouse side, you know, it's important for lawmakers to talk about their specific district and itsparticular needs. There is not a ton of swing districts, but they are out there. And people running inthose districts will have to tailor their message to that particular community. But as Donsaid, I think both parties think that they have messages that can win, as Don described withMedicaid. And I think on the Republican side, the coalescing around a national message seems tobe essentially, look, we saved you a lot of money by extending those tax credits from 2017.
08:06And we're fixing Medicaid by kicking people out of the program who shouldn't be in the program tobegin with. So it will be interesting as this continues to see how close to those two messageseach party can remain. All right. We're going to take a quick break. We'll have more in just amoment. Support for NPR and the following message come from the Walton Family Foundation,working to create access to opportunity for people and communities by tackling tough socialand environmental problems. More information is at waltonfamilyfoundation.org.And we're back. Don, the whole point of these messages is to reach voters, right, for either party.What do we know so far about how these messages are resonating with voters?
08:52Well, there's outrage, right? But nobody is actually feeling these cuts just yet.But we do know the bill is not popular. So people are certainly receptive when there's a chance to stand up and to vent a Michigan poll in theweeks ahead of the final debate showed that more than 80% of voters in the stateopposed cuts to Medicaid. I talked to Corwin Schmidt. He's a political scientist at MichiganState University about how it's playing and about that poll. And specifically, he talked aboutthe GOP argument that the bill goes after waste and fraud in the system. It resonates with votersto say there's waste and fraud.It's waste and fraud, though, when you find out that your hospital might be considered
09:42waste and fraud, and you're like, that provides essential services, that's a much different story suddenly.And there is new polling that backs up what the professor is saying there.There's a KFF poll on the bill conducted in July since its passage that says overall the bill'sapproval rating, this is among all voters, is underwater.63% view it unfavorably, 36% like.And that's in line with other polling that we've seen.Even if this message is resonating right now, I mean, the midterm elections are more than ayear away still.
10:20Are Democrats likely to keep talking about Medicaid for another year, Barbara?I would be surprised if they stopped talking about Medicaid.I think it's, I mean, as Don described, you know,big bulks of these adjustments to Medicaid won't take effect, you know, for a while,December 2026, as Don said, for eligibility, re-determinations to start being conducted,which is going to be every six months, then the work requirements in January 2027,unless states opt in earlier, I should say.Those are dates far in the future.
10:53The challenge is not, in my mind, not so much are Democrats going to keep talking about it or not.I think they will.But it's very hard to campaign on something that voters can't yet feel.real. And we know that personal impact is such a driver. And I think it will be sort of a delicatetask of messaging this from Democrats in a way that's effective, emotionally resonant for peoplewhen a lot of this won't actually affect their lives and their communities for quite some time.But Democrats clearly think Medicaid is a winning issue for them. Fidelity to that message is going to be key.It's not always a strength in the Democratic Party. And of course, the midterms historically favor the party
11:31that's out of power. And, you know, with such a narrow margin of control of the House, it willprobably be decided by just a few seats. That makes for a complicated path. You know, and to yourpoint, Barbara, I mean, this is an issue that won't really be felt directly for a while, but it'sonly one issue. I mean, what else will you both be looking out for in terms of messaging fromDemocrats and Republicans over the next year as we get closer to those midterms? Well, first we'll bewatching the Democrats' message discipline, right? How much they are able to keep this front and center.They seem confident that they will be and that it is an issue that voters do care deeply aboutand that voters are essentially on their side on it now if you look at the polling. But there
12:17will be so many other issues that they won't be able to ignore. And we've all covered enoughelections to know that to try to predict what's going to be on the agenda in a year and threemonths is a dangerous game. Not to mention that President Trump will be driving a lot of the messagingfor Republicans over the next year. And he likes to move from message to message sometimes in the sameday, let alone weeks and months. So to your point, Don, who knows where we'll be a year from now.But I think it's safe to say that Medicaid will be a focus. But we're going to leave it there.I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover politics. I'm Barbara Sprint. I cover Congress. And I'm Don Gagne forcovering politics. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast.
12:59Support for NPR and the following message come from the Walton Family Foundation,working to create access to opportunity for people and communities by tackling tough social and environmental problems.More information is at walton family foundation.org.