An illustration of an elephant and donkey in suits, representing Republicans and Democrats.
A majority of Americans oppose Trump administration plans to pursue broad cuts to federal health agencies and budgets, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll found.
“Across a range of questions, large majorities of Democrats and independents oppose the Trump administration’s major cuts to federal health agencies and programs, while Republicans are more supportive,” the survey report said. “Those who identify with President Trump’s Make America Great Again movement are even more supportive of cuts to health agency’s staff and budget but still split on cuts to funding for Medicaid and a few other programs.”
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Opinions vary by political party and commitment to the MAGA agenda. Sixty percent of respondents, including large shares of Democrats (89%) and independents (67%), oppose major health spending and staff cuts at federal health agencies. By contrast, MAGA supporters overwhelmingly support such cuts (78%), while Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who don’t align with MAGA are divided (48% support and 52% oppose).
The poll gauged public opinion on several specific issues:
- On Medicaid, a contentious issue as the administration and congressional Republicans weigh budget cuts to help finance tax cuts, three-quarters of the public say they oppose major federal spending cuts.
- About 75% oppose major cuts to states for mental health and addiction prevention services. This includes a narrow majority of Republicans (58%) and large majorities of Democrats (89%) and independents (75%).
- Seven in 10 oppose major cuts for funding to track infectious disease outbreaks. This includes half of Republicans and large majorities of Democrats (89%) and independents (74%).
- Sixty-nine percent oppose major cuts to research at universities and medical center, including 92% of Democrats and 69% of independents. By contrast, most Republicans (56%) favor such cuts.
- Nearly two-thirds oppose reducing federal funding to help people pay premiums for health coverage purchased through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. This includes large majorities of Democrats (88%) and independents (65%). Most Republicans, (61%) favor such cuts.
- Most of the public also opposes major staffing cuts to key federal health agencies such as the Department of Veteran Affairs (74% oppose), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (67%), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (63%),Food and Drug Administration (63%) and National Institutes of Health (62%).
- About half of the public say fraud, waste and abuse are major problems in Medicaid (52%), Social Security (51%) and Medicare (50%). A slightly larger majority say they are major problems in private health insurance (57%).
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Alan Goforth
Alan Goforth is a freelance writer in suburban Kansas City. In addition to freelancing for several publications, he has written a dozen books about sports and other topics.
