Democrats Launch Ads Targeting GOP on Medicaid

Nonprofit groups affiliated with House Democrats are launching advertising campaigns in battleground states attacking House Republicans over Medicare cuts in President Donald Trump's "one big, beautiful bill" that narrowly passed the lower chamber Thursday.

House Majority Forward, a nonprofit affiliated with leading House Democrats, and House Majority PAC will start running digital ads next week attacking House Republicans on Medicaid spending cuts, Politico reported Friday, citing a spokesperson for the group.

The ads will appear in 25 battleground districts in California, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Protect Our Care, another group that aligns with Democrats, has spent $10 million on Medicaid-related TV ads targeting swing seats, and it is planning to expand on that next week, Politico reported, citing a person familiar with the decision who was granted anonymity to speak freely.

Unrig Our Economy, another Democrat group, is airing a radio ad attacking Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, for her vote to move the bill out of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and it is expected to run more ads like it against Reps. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., and Don Bacon, R-Neb.

The White House this week defended planned reforms to Medicare in the reconciliation budget bill, which the Senate is considering, including work requirements, eligibility verification, and other methods targeting "waste, fraud, and abuse."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the bill will "strengthen and preserve" the healthcare program for low-income Americans for "decades to come."

But Democrats have been touting a Congressional Budget Office report released earlier this month that they requested before the bill was final. That report estimated millions of Americans would lose Medicaid coverage in fiscal 2025-2034 under the reforms, which are expected to cut spending by more than $880 billion.

But a House Energy and Commerce Committee spokesperson told Newsmax that the report was based on speculation.

Still, Democrats see Republicans as vulnerable on the issue in their own base, according to Politico, because Trump built his winning coalition in 2024 in part on increased support among working-class voters across racial groups. A Morning Consult analysis found that Trump won more Medicaid beneficiaries, 49%, than Kamala Harris (47%).

"They're trying to appeal to working-class voters, and they've been successful at it, but the real-world consequences are going to start hitting those voters and I think it'll hurt Republicans badly," said Mike Lux, a consultant to Democrats who focuses on working-class voters. "For the Republican Party, in the long run, it's going to be very hard to appeal to working-class voters if their Medicaid gets cut."

The bill passed by the House on Thursday would move the start date of Medicaid work requirements from Jan. 1, 2029, to Dec. 31, 2026. It would also put more restrictions on states that offer coverage to illegal immigrants, including potential cuts to federal funding.

The National Republican Congressional Committee said Friday it is launching ads targeting Democrats in 25 battleground states over the budget bill — not mentioning Medicaid but accusing Democrats of voting for "the largest U.S. tax hike in generations" to pay for "freebies" for illegal immigrants, Politico reported.

"National Democrats' tired, baseless playbook of Medicaid attacks continue to fall flat because all they have to show the American people are distractions instead of results," Mike Marinella, an NRCC spokesperson, told Politico. "House Democrats just provided Republicans a midterm sledgehammer with their vote, and we will make sure voters across the country know they're putting criminal illegal immigrants over vulnerable Americans."