ICYMI: Groundwork’s Owens Joins MSNBC ‘Way Too Early With Ali Vitali,’ Says Trump is Sowing Chaos to Distract from Sky High Health Care Costs
ICYMI: Groundwork’s Owens Joins MSNBC ‘Way Too Early With Ali Vitali,’ Says Trump is Sowing Chaos to Distract from Sky High Health Care Costs
“What’s really at issue here…it’s not the filibuster, it’s not air travel, it’s whether Americans are gonna be able to afford health care next year”
Today, Groundwork Collaborative Executive Director Lindsay Owens appeared on MSNBC’s Way Too Early with Ali Vitali to discuss how the government shutdown fight to lower health care costs underscores Americans’ demand for action on the affordability crisis. Owens called out President Trump’s efforts to distract American families from the fact that their health insurance premiums will see double digit increases next year. Watch the MSNBC interview here.
Owens said: “The president has said he plans to extract maximum pain on American families during this shutdown, and he is really picking and choosing who is going to bear the brunt of that pain. The latest effort is to create chaos at airports and for air travel across the country, but he’s really distracting us with this chaos overhead while he’s trying to bury the fact that on the ground every day millions of Americans in this country are waking up and finding out that their health care premiums are gonna spike, not just $5 or $10, some of these health care premiums are gonna double, go up as much as 600%.”
Owens continued: “So the crux of the shutdown … and that’s really what’s at issue here. It’s not the filibuster, it’s not air travel, it’s whether Americans are gonna be able to afford health care next year.”
Analyzing data on how health care costs and affordability is playing out around the country, Owens said, “ And we also know from recent polling that large majorities of Americans are saying they only want Democrats to vote for an end to the shutdown if they get a deal on health care, even though they fully appreciate that that could mean more days and weeks of the shutdown.”
Owens closed out the segment with a broad picture analysis on Americans shifting views on where they place their trust on the economy, stating “The other thing that’s really interesting that’s happening right now is Democrats are gaining ground on the economy that has long been Trump’s advantage, and Republicans as a party have been more trusted on the economy for 15 years or more. The fact that we’re seeing cracks in that foundation, Trump’s economic approval rating now running well below his overall approval rating, and Democrats starting to be more trusted than Republicans on the economy, that spells, I think, real danger for the GOP…”
BACKGROUND
- Under Trump and the GOP, health insurance has become more expensive across the board. Premiums are set to spike as much as 600% for millions of Americans who rely on the Affordable Care Act, and employer-based plans will see their steepest increase in 15 years.
- For a typical family of four with a household income of $80,000, monthly premiums will increase 113%, from $263 per month to $560 per month.
- The lowest income Americans would face the steepest premium increase: A single adult earning $25,000 would see premiums rise by 573%.
- Even those not receiving tax credits will be impacted: insurers have signaled that they will hike gross premiums for ACA Marketplace plans by an average of 20%, the largest in six years.
- A majority of Americans say the fight to lower costs should continue as the nation enters the sixth week of the government shutdown. With more than 65% concerned about the rising costs of health insurance premiums, new polling from Groundwork Collaborative and Data for Progress found that, by a 14 point margin, 52% believe Democrats in Congress should continue to push for negotiations to prevent the health care price hikes at the center of the shutdown fight.
- Voters are losing faith in Trump and Republicans’ handling of the economy. A new NBC News poll finds that voters are nearly split on which party would better handle the economy — 38% say Republicans, 37% say Democrats. In 2023, Republicans had a 21-point edge on this question.
- Large majorities say Trump has fallen short of expectations on cost of living (66%), looking out for the middle class (65%), and the overall economy (63%).
- Running on health care and affordability is a winning position. According to polling from Groundwork Action and Hart Research, New Jersey and Virginia voters favored Democratic candidates because of their focus on lowering the cost of health care and improving affordability.
- 45% of New Jersey voters said that Democrats’ position on health care during the government shutdown made them feel more favorable toward the Democratic Party (19% said no difference and only 33% said less favorable).
- By a 26-point margin, New Jersey voters said Democrats have the better approach to making quality health care affordable.
- Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill won on an affordability platform and ran ahead of the Democratic Party brand on affordability and the economy.
- Sherrill enjoyed strong advantages over her Republican opponent on every individual affordability issue tested, including: making quality health care affordable (+23) and making housing affordable (+17)
