As Democrats release a flurry of midterm ads portraying GOP cuts to Medicaid as a threat to rural healthcare, Republicans have countered with ads claiming Democratic candidates in Texas and Pennsylvania would put dozens of rural hospitals out of business by creating a public health insurance option. But the ads cite an industry-backed study whose assumptions don’t apply to all public option proposals.
As the midterms approach, ads supporting Democrats and Republicans are making competing claims about how President Donald Trump’s signature domestic policy law will impact rural healthcare.
Vice President JD Vance gave the keynote address on the second night of the Republican midterm convention, which also featured Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., House Speaker Mike Johnson and a final send-off from President Donald Trump. Here’s what we found in fact-checking their remarks:
President Donald Trump and other administration officials are claiming credit for a recent drop in prescription drug prices, citing deals they’ve struck with drugmakers and the launch of the online direct-to-consumer platform TrumpRx. But experts are skeptical those measures have had much impact on prices overall, and they say other factors likely explain most of the decline.
Q: Is President Donald Trump really cutting Medicare subsidies?
A: The Trump administration recently announced that it is ending a temporary subsidy that has reduced premiums for Medicare Part D standalone prescription drug plans. The subsidy, originally slated to run through at least 2027, was put into place by the Biden administration to offset expected premium increases after major changes to the Part D benefit. Analysts say some Medicare beneficiaries could see higher Part D premiums as a result.
Announcing a pause on more than $1 billion in Medicaid funding to Minnesota and California last month, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz accused state officials of being too lax about fraud, citing among other things the results of a provider verification process in Minnesota and the rapid growth of a California home care program. But he left out important context in both cases.
Multiple Democratic lawmakers have claimed that 8 million Americans have lost healthcare coverage as a result of the Trump-backed budget reconciliation bill that passed a year ago, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But experts told us the enrollment declines seen to date are largely due to other factors — including other Trump administration policies.
An ad attacking Sen. Susan Collins in Maine claimed that she voted “to raise healthcare costs and raise insurance premiums,” as well as give President Donald Trump “a blank check for his war in Iran.” But neither claim fully explains Collins’ more nuanced position on those issues.
Over the course of the six-week shutdown — which may be ending soon — President Donald Trump has repeatedly made the false claim that Democrats “want $1.5 trillion for health care for illegal aliens.”
Democrats and Republicans have sparred over Democratic demands to address health care issues in a government funding bill, with the standoff leading to the first government shutdown since 2019. We’ll provide the facts on two talking points each side is using to blame the other for the shutdown.