Biden Leans Into Health Care, Asking Voters To Trust Him Over Trump – KFF Health News

Trying to drum up strong support for the sweeping healthcare legislation he helped pass 14 years ago, one of President Joe Biden’s latest re-election strategies is to remind voters that former President Donald Trump Tried to repeal the CARES Act.

“Folks, he’s coming for your health care, and we’re not going to let that happen,” Biden said of Trump. Television and digital advertising This month, part of a $14 million investment in a handful of states that decide the presidency in November.

The new ad builds on the popularity of the ACA among independent voters and points to Biden’s lead over Trump on health issues, which the current president hopes will help him secure victory.

Even a small percentage of voters could make a difference for Biden, said Kenneth Miller, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

“It will be very close,” he said. “Any little thing can be a deciding factor.”

Political experts say it is wise for Biden to draw attention to the ACA, which ended long-standing insurance practices that included denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or charging them more. is – a change that is “popular across the partisan divide” and benefits about half of American households. , said Ashley Kirzinger, KFF’s associate director of public opinion and survey research.

“Building the ACA around those protections is a very smart move,” he said.

New one KFF survey found that Biden has an edge with independent voters when it comes to health care issues.

Independents trust Biden more than Trump to ensure access to affordable health insurance (47% to 22%) and to maintain protections for people with pre-existing conditions (47% to 23%).

Biden has a slight advantage over Trump, whom independents trust more to address high health care costs (39% to 26%). The survey also found that the issue is not a slam dunk for either candidate: Nearly a third of independent voters said they trust neither Biden nor Trump to address the costs.

Democrats are fighting to extend higher government subsidies for most people with ACA coverage, which were extended during the pandemic and are set to expire in 2025. They are also counting on outrage over the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to quash the ruling. roe vs wadeAnd strict abortion restrictions have been imposed in many Republican-led states to influence Democratic voting.

bet “It couldn’t be any better for Americans who rely on the Affordable Care Act,” Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler told reporters on a call this month.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

There is at least one Democratic-aligned super PAC Also running health related advertisementsThat includes Trump’s appointment of Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the constitutional right to abortion.

Barry Burden, director of the Center for Elections Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the focus on health care is a strength of Biden.

“Biden is beset by voters’ concerns about inflation and immigration, where Republicans are prioritized,” he said. “Health care is a more favorable area where the Trump campaign doesn’t have much to defend.”

some recent surveys Trump is shown to be leading In most battleground states, voters are expressing pessimism about the economy.

But Trump is weak on health care, Miller said. He unsuccessfully tried to repeal the ACA as president and has hinted at trying again when he returns to the White House. in November, he declared “Obamacare sucks!” on social media, and in March he said he wanted to reform the law without explaining why.

“These ads are an attempt to shake up the agenda,” Miller said. “Biden needs to do more to remind Democrat-leaning independent voters who probably voted for him in 2020 that he is the better choice.”

Biden’s ad also claims that his health care policies have helped Americans save $800 a year. Biden administration said The 13 million people who bought coverage on the ACA insurance marketplaces in 2022 saved that much.

Robert Spiel, director of the Public Policy Initiative at Penn State Behrend, said the ad’s primary claim, that 100 million people would be harmed if Trump removed pre-existing condition protections, is misleading. That’s because many people will retain protection under their coverage, especially on Medicare and employer-sponsored insurance.

Spiel said, “The ad seems too general to have a significant impact on the outcome of the election, although it could have at least some potential impact on who wins Pennsylvania through the small universe of swing voters.”

The KFF survey of 1,243 registered voters, conducted April 23-May 1, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.