As Republicans Hatch a Plan to Ram A Massive Tax Cut for Billionaires Through Congress, Medicaid Benefits for Millions of Americans Are at Stake
Washington, D.C. – This week, Protect Our Care is launching a multi-million dollar “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign — one of its largest single advocacy campaigns since the defeat of the Affordable Care Act repeal attempt in 2017 — to block the Republican-led plan to slash Medicaid funding to pay for another round of tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations. Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are openly plotting TRILLIONS of dollars in cuts to Medicaid in order to fund their outrageous tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. As a result, millions – including working folks, children with disabilities, expectant mothers, and seniors in nursing homes – could lose critical health care coverage.
“After an election where Republicans claimed to care about working people and the cost of living, nothing could be more outrageous than ripping away health care from millions of seniors, children, moms, and workers to pay for another round of tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “The American people didn’t vote in November to have their grandparents kicked out of nursing homes or health care ripped away from kids with disabilities or expectant moms in order to give Elon Musk another tax cut. We know firsthand from the campaign to defeat ACA repeal 8 years ago, and every health care fight since, that health care is a top-of-mind issue for Americans – and they want lawmakers to do more to ensure affordable access to coverage, not less. Our ‘Hands off Medicaid’ campaign will make that abundantly clear and demand that Medicaid cuts are off the table – for good.”
Project Our Care’s “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign will feature every possible tactic to block any effort to slash this vital health care program:
Paid advertising, including:
- Traditional cable and network television nationally, in Washington, D.C., and in targeted states and congressional districts
- Streaming services like YouTube and ROKU across the country
- Direct mail
- Rural and other targeted radio advertising
- Digital advertising across platforms targeting the Medicaid population in areas around nursing homes and rural hospitals
- Out-of-home advertising including billboards, mobile billboards, bus stop wraps, and wheat pasting
Advocacy and earned media activities, including:
- Coalition organizing nationally and in key states and districts
- Op-eds and Letters to the Editor placed by experts, elected officials, doctors, nurses, advocates for seniors, children, moms, and other people who rely on Medicaid and their family members
- Grassroots and grasstops lobbying and meetings with members and staff
- In-person and virtual events in key states, districts, and Washington, D.C.
- Research, fact sheets, and reports on the impacts of Medicaid cuts on people, disease mitigation, rural and community-based hospitals, nursing homes, local and state budgets, and more
The eight-figure campaign will be national in scope but will largely focus on a handful of Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate:
House of Representatives
David Schweikert (AZ-1)
David Valadao (CA-22)
Young Kim (CA-40)
Ken Calvert (CA-41)
Nick LaLota (NY-01)
Andrew Garbarino (NY-02)
Mike Lawler (NY-17)
Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07)
Rob Bresnahan (PA-08)
Dan Newhouse (WA-04)
Senate
Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Susan Collins (ME)
Tom Tillis (NC)
Jim Justice (WV)
Shelley Moore Capito (WV)
Bill Cassidy (LA)
Chuck Grassley (IA)
Joni Ernst (IA)
Background
Medicaid is an essential pillar of our health care system. It is the largest health insurance program in the country, providing health care to more than 70 million Americans — nearly a quarter of the country. It covers one in five Americans, including kids, moms, seniors, people of color, rural Americans, and people with disabilities.
By The Numbers
- Republican threats to Medicaid put health care at risk for 72 million (21 percent) Americans including:
- 31.5 million children
- 9.1 million people with disabilities
- 8.3 million seniors
- Republicans will create a $50 billion hole in state Medicaid budgets to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations.
- If Republicans decrease federal funding for people in the Medicaid expansion population, it would immediately rip health care away from over 4.2 million Americans across eleven states and jeopardize health care for about 21 million people.
- Republicans threaten care for 18.5 million people on Medicaid by imposing lifetime caps.
- Republicans could deny coverage to 21 million Americans through burdensome bureaucratic reporting requirements.