Dem group launches ads attacking Trump’s ‘hypocrisy on Medicare and Medicaid cuts’

A leading Democratic health group is launching a national ad campaign against vulnerable 2020 lawmakers for supporting what the group calls President Trump’s “blatant hypocrisy on Medicare and Medicaid cuts.”

The five-figure ad from Protect Our Care targets four senators and six House members and calls Trump a hypocrite for proposing massive cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, despite his repeated promises on the campaign trail to save those programs.

{mosads}“Trump is turning his back on seniors and families — proposing over two trillion dollars in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid,” the ad says. “Breaking his promise. Slashing our health care to the bone. And for what? Tax breaks for the wealthiest corporations.”

White House spokesman Judd Deere said the ad is wrong.

“The President is not cutting Medicare, he’s saving it,” Deere said. “His budget makes necessary reforms that will lower out of pocket costs for patients and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse which will preserve Medicare services for future generations.”

The ad will run on cable TV in Washington, D.C., and online. The group is targeting GOP Sens. Martha McSally (Ariz.), Cory Gardner (Colo.), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Susan Collins (Maine), along with GOP Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Rodney Davis (Ill.), Fred Upton (Mich.), Jim Hagedorn (Minn.), Don Bacon (Neb.) and John Katko (N.Y.).

The ad is the latest example of Democratic attacks on the Trump administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2020, which begins Oct. 1. Lawmakers, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), have repeatedly slammed the administration, saying the cuts will hurt seniors and reduce their benefits.

“It is unbelievable the Trump budget calls for … $850 billion cut in Medicare,” Schumer said after the White House released its funding request.

Democratic criticisms are seen by some as being overstated, at least on the Medicare front. A recent analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that the vast majority of the Medicare cuts in Trump’s 2020 budget request are to payments to hospitals and doctors, not cuts to benefits for seniors on the program.

About 10 percent of the proposed Medicare cuts would affect seniors, the analysis found.

However, Trump’s proposed cuts would significantly affect Medicaid enrollees.

In that program, the administration proposed repealing ObamaCare’s expansion of the program and imposing cuts by placing a new cap on payments.