The 2018 midterm election is shaping up to be not just a referendum on popular vote loser Donald Trump, but on Republican efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Health care has been among the most dominant policy issues for voters in elections since last November and in public polling. That includes, according to new polling from PPP, Medicaid. In a national poll they completed this week they found “voters nationally strongly support Medicaid and are opposed to cutting it, especially to fund tax breaks.” How strongly? This: “66% of voters oppose cutting Medicaid, as opposed to just 19% who support cuts.”
- 74% of Democrats and Independents oppose cutting Medicaid, while a plurality of Republicans, 49%, also oppose cuts.
- Only 34% of Republicans support cutting Medicaid.
- Rather than cut Medicaid, a majority of voters (52%) want to see it expanded, compared to just 35% who don’t. […]
- Learning that Medicaid covers 6 in 10 nursing home residents, and 40 percent of costs for long-term care that seniors depend on, made voters 63% less likely to support cuts.
- Voters were 53% less likely to support cuts after learning that if Medicaid funding is cut, 1 in 5 Americans—seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities—will be at risk of losing access to healthcare.
A whopping 71 percent say that Medicaid should not be cut to pay for the Republican tax scam, including 60 percent of Republicans. Because even Republicans get (or are) old and might have to have help from Medicaid at the end of their lives. Medicaid protection should be an easy sell for Democrats this election—that includes fighting against harsh work requirements for recipients at the state level and in federal legislation.
As for Obamacare, repeal fever is over and done with. Only 29 percent says they want it repealed, while “66% say they want to keep what works about the law and fix what doesn’t.” That includes 44 percent of Republicans, 82 percent of Democrats, and 68 percent of independents. Repeal might feature in Republican primary races, but that will just provide more fodder for Democrats in the general.
Please give $1 to our Senate and House funds so that Republicans pay the price for sabotaging our care.