| On this day in 1965, Medicaid and Medicare were signed into law, two programs that have helped millions of Californians live longer, healthier lives by delivering quality, affordable health care to generations of San Diego families over the last 60 years.
As Californians continue to see the fallout of Republicans’ votes to cut these two critical programs, today’s anniversary highlights how MAGA Jim Desmond’s support for this cruelty has made health care the top domestic issue for Americans this year, according to Gallup.
Driving this anxiety among the public is the incredible damage caused by the Desmond-backed Big, Ugly Bill. The law is ripping away health care from Californians and raising medical costs on everyone – all to fund massive tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations.
The impacts are real and Californians are hurting. Desmond’s cruel and decisive support of gutting Medicaid are wreaking havoc on their lives:
And Desmond has supported the Republican health care crisis every step of the way. After Darrell Issa voted for the Big, Ugly Bill, Desmond went as far as to say “I’m hoping to follow in his footsteps.”
And when given the chance to provide relief locally, Desmond voted against using county reserve funds to prevent service cuts and against a plan to respond to federal cuts to Medi-Cal and CalFresh. He even called families’ very real concerns “politically-generated mania and hysteria” and said “the sky is not falling.”
ADDITIONALLY: The Desmond-backed Big, Ugly Bill triggered nearly $500 billion in cuts to Medicare, resulting in likely cuts to funding for hospitals and doctors and higher premiums for seniors. To “celebrate” the anniversary of Medicare, the Trump administration also ended a prescription drug plan that will spike the cost of medicine for Medicare recipients.
DCCC Spokesperson Anna Elsasser:
“MAGA Jim Desmond is obsessed with dismantling Americans’ health care access. We now have less hospitals, less coverage, and it all costs more for the few who can afford it. Today’s Medicaid and Medicare anniversaries are reminding voters that Desmond supports making people’s lives worse. His attack on Medicaid and Medicare is a defining issue for the midterms and it’s going to cost him in November.” |
