Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI), Representatives Donna Shalala (FL) and Susan Wild (PA) Denounce President Trump’s Disastrous Health Care Agenda in Battleground States Highlighting the Devastating Impacts for Their Constituents
Call audio available HERE
Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI), U.S. Representatives Donna Shalala (FL-27) and Susan Wild (PA-07), and Protect Our Care held a press call where they denounced President Trump’s health care record ahead of his State of the Union Address next week, including his ongoing efforts to sabotage and repeal the health care law. Also on the call, Jim Williams with Public Policy Polling, discussed a new poll from PPP in key battleground states (Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin) that found President Trump’s positions on health care issues are deeply unpopular among battleground voters.
“Health care is personal, not political — it’s personal for every one of us. During the State of the Union, we are going to be focused on the president’s dangerous record of trying to take away health care for tens of millions of Americans,” said U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow. “Over and over again they talk about protecting people with pre-existing conditions while doing everything they can to make sure that’s not possible and not affordable.”
“My district has the largest enrollment in the ACA, and this president has tried to destroy their health care, because without coverage for pre-existing conditions you don’t have health insurance,” said Congresswoman Donna Shalala. “The president has no plan except to destroy the health care system as we know it. He’s absent on all major issues on health care — but more importantly, he’s making war on people’s health care. It’s going to drive costs up and destroy people’s lives.”
“Every single day, constituents from my community voice their concerns about healthcare – many can’t afford their prescriptions and those with pre-existing conditions are terrified of losing their coverage,” said Congresswoman Susan Wild. “For Pennsylvanians, the stakes could not be higher. That’s why I am focused on increasing access to care and lowering the cost of prescription drugs. I am proud to work alongside Protect Our Care to strive for healthcare that is both affordable and accessible for every American in every community.”
“As President Trump prepares for his State of the Union Address, his signature domestic issue, repealing and sabotaging American health care, is an anvil weighing down his job approval ratings and putting in grave doubt his prospects for reelection. And he knows it.” said Brad Woodhouse, executive director for Protect Our Care. “The president recently flew off the handle and berated his own Secretary of Health and Human Services reacting to abysmal health care numbers in his own polling.
“President Trump’s poor approval on health care is clearly of his own making, but it’s the American people who will pay the price if his war on Americans health care succeeds. Donald Trump has mounted a relentless war on American health care through trying to repeal the health care law – first in Congress and now in the courts – putting protections for 135 million people with pre-existing conditions and the insurance coverage of 20 million more at risk. Even this week, President Trump is proposing so-called block grants for Medicaid, a policy repeatedly rejected by Congress and is nothing more than a euphemism for slashing benefits for millions of Americans.”
Key Findings From the Poll:
- Health care is the most important issue or a very important issue for a large majority of voters (68%) when deciding who to vote for in 2020. This issue is important to voters across party lines, including 66% of independents and 53% of Republicans.
- The overwhelming majority (83%) support allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug costs with drug companies, which Trump has promised to veto. Just 5% of voters oppose ending the ban on Medicare negotiating drug prices.
- 70% of voters oppose President Trump’s plan putting Medicare cuts on the table if he is re-elected—including by a plurality of Republicans, with 49% opposing his decision and only 38% in support.
- Battleground voters in these states Trump won in 2016 trust Democrats more than President Trump on both the issue of pre-existing conditions (53-43) and prescription drugs (51-45), two of the most important issues on voters’ minds in 2020.
- Only 27% agree with President Trump’s lawsuit to strike down the Affordable Care Act in the courts.
- Trump’s effort to use the courts to eliminate protections for people with pre- existing conditions is a major concern for 72% of battleground state voters, including 73% of independents and 58% of Republicans.
- Similarly, the fact that 20 million Americans would completely lose their health insurance coverage if President Trump’s lawsuit is successful is a major concern for 69% of voters, including 71% of independents.
Call audio available HERE