Medicaid And Medicare Lead Issues For Democrats In 2026

Michigan Democrats are warming up their political machines for the 2026 midterm elections.  It is clear that Medicaid and Medicare changes in the OBBBA will be weaponized against the Republicans.  This Michigan Advance political analysis is light on how Medicaid and Medicare changes will be used by Democratic candidates opposing each other in primaries, which will occur before the winning Democratic candidates get their chance to take on the Republicans.  Still worth a read:

https://michiganadvance.com/2025/07/30/on-medicare-and-medicaid-anniversary-michigan-democrats-slam-rogers-and-james-on-health-care/

On Medicare and Medicaid anniversary, Michigan Democrats slam Rogers and James on health care
By Kyle Davidson - July 30, 2025

As U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township) and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake) each seeks to win Michiganders over in 2026, Michigan Democrats are warning the two politicians are not to be trusted when it comes to health care.

Marking Wednesday as the 60th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the legislation which established Medicare and Medicaid, members of the Michigan Democratic Party slammed James and Rogers for backing Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Bill,” arguing the policy takes away health care from more than 700,000 Michiganders in order to fund tax cuts for billionaires.

“These are our neighbors, our family members, people working multiple jobs who still can’t afford private insurance, seniors in nursing homes, children with disabilities and pregnant mothers,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said.

Additionally, the nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid pose a risk to rural hospitals, with Hertel pointing to data from the University of North Carolina’s Cecil G. Sheps Center warning that the McLaren Central Michigan Hospital in Mt. Pleasant, U of M Health-Sparrow Carson Hospital in Carson City and the Ascension Borgess-Lee Hospital in Dowagiac are facing a high risk of closure.

“When rural hospitals close, entire communities suffer. These facilities are often the largest employers in their regions. We’re talking about thousands of good paying jobs disappearing, local economies collapsing and families having to drive hours for basic medical care.…this was a choice, not an inevitability, and it’s the wrong choice for Michigan,” Hertel said.

James is running for governor, while Rogers is running another race for U.S. Senate, following an unsuccessful run against now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) in 2024.

Alongside James, Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township), former state attorney general Mike Cox, Genesee County truck driver Anthony Hudson and Traverse City native Evan Space are seeking the Republican nomination. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson are seeking the Democratic nomination.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a longtime Democrat, is running as an independent.

While Rogers is so far unopposed in the race for the GOP nomination for Senate, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham), state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), former Michigan Speaker of the House Joe Tate (D-Detroit) and former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed are seeking the Democratic nomination.

State Rep. Carrie Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor) argued Rogers had made a career out of abandoning Michigan, purchasing a mansion in Florida while failing to maintain a home in Michigan.

She also slammed Rogers’ for voting in support of Republican budget proposals during his time in the House that opponents argued would turn Medicare into a voucher system.

Rheingans also pointed to James as a key vote in support of the Republicans’ tax and spending plan, which she warned would also increase prices for individuals receiving insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

A spokesperson for James did not respond to a request for comment.

Rhonda Maney, a retired OB-GYN said that roughly one in five of the pregnant patients she saw during her 25-year career were on Medicaid for prenatal care.

“The vast majority of these patients were working poor. These are young families, young women who have jobs, but they’re either under insured or uninsured. So losing Medicaid for them means losing access to prenatal care,” Maney said.

Nonpregnant patients who lose access to Medicaid will likely be forced to forego regular checkups and screenings that can detect cancer and heart disease, Maney said.

Individuals who are unable to receive screenings are more likely to end up in emergency rooms and intensive care units, meaning more expensive care, leaving hospitals to bear the burden for uncompensated care from patients who cannot afford it, Maney said, with some hospitals being forced to close due to a loss in compensated care.

Alyssa Brouillet, communications and chief spokesperson for Rogers’ Senate Campaign, accused the Democrats of fearmongering, arguing the policy would protect care for seniors, children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities.

She also argued the bill would “encourage able-bodied Americans to get back to work” and falsely stated the bill would remove 1.4 million undocumented immigrants from receiving Medicaid on the taxpayer dime.

According to the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for traditional Medicaid, nor are many legal immigrants. Another fact check explains the 1.4 million figure stems from various Congressional Budget Office analyses which find that the total loss of coverage under the Big Beautiful Bill would include an estimated 1.4 million people covered under programs funded by states. This coverage is not Medicaid *.

* Actually, it is paid by Medicaid in at least California, Illinois, and New York - and possibly other blue states including Michigan.  The states deceitfully claim to independently fund health care programs for illegal immigrants, but they actually fund them with revenues derived from "taxes" on hospital and clinic billings paid by Medicaid and Medicare.  One of the great challenges in sorting out the health care quagmire is the many self-serving, barefaced lies being professed as fact.