4 in 10 Republicans worried Medicaid cuts would hurt their communities: poll

At least 4 in 10 Republicans are worried about the consequences of Medicaid cuts on their families and communities, according to a new survey.

The KFF poll, released Friday, found a partisan divide in the level of concern. Still, about 40 percent of Republicans said they were concerned Medicaid cuts would lead to more adults and children becoming uninsured and negatively impact hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers in their communities. 

The findings also show how politically fraught Medicaid is and the dangers for Republicans who are seeking to cut billions of dollars from the program to pay for President Trump’s domestic policy agenda. 

The House-passed legislation would cut nearly $800 billion from Medicaid, primarily by requiring childless adults up to age 64 to prove they are working, going to school or volunteering for 80 hours a month. It also puts a freeze on provider taxes, a practice used by many states to get increased federal reimbursement that often goes towards paying for Medicaid. 

The politics of the health insurance program for low-income Americans are changing, and Republicans now risk alienating their own voters. Lower-income, working-class people who rely on Medicaid are now a major part of the GOP base, which has become more populist since the emergence of Trump.  

While most Medicaid beneficiaries under age 65 are either Democrats or independent, 27 percent said they are Republicans or lean Republican, including 19 percent who identify as Trump’s MAGA supporters, according to KFF. 

Among those GOP Medicaid recipients, the poll found three-quarters are worried that sweeping changes to the program would hurt their family’s ability to get and pay for care, and nearly 70 percent are concerned the cuts would lead to an increase in the uninsured and negatively impact providers.  

Overall, Democrats and independents said they were much more likely than Republicans to worry about potential negative consequences of Medicaid cuts. But nearly a third of Republicans and 26 percent of MAGA supporters who aren’t on Medicaid said they were concerned about their or their families’ own access to health care, the survey found.

Medicaid is also key to keeping many rural providers from closing. In Missouri for instance, which was the most recent state to expand the health program, industry experts said about 10 rural hospitals closed in the years leading up to the expansion vote. Ever since, there haven’t been any closures.

Overall, about seven in ten rural residents said they were worried Medicaid cuts would lead to more adults and children becoming uninsured, or that it would negatively impact health care providers in their communities, according to the poll.

Nearly half of rural Republican respondents said they were worried about providers, while 37 percent of rural Republicans said they were worried Medicaid cuts could affect their access to care. 

According to the Congressional Budget Office, 7.8 million people could lose Medicaid coverage and become uninsured over the next decade. 

The survey was conducted May 5-26 among 2,539 U.S. adults. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.