DES MOINES, Iowa — Rob Davidson, a former congressional candidate and current ER doctor, ran into Vice President Mike Pence at a diner in Des Moines and used the opportunity to raise questions about cuts to Medicaid.
"I'm an emergency doctor, and I'm worried about plans they were talking about last week about maybe cutting Medicare and the roll out today of cutting Medicaid," Davidson said in the video, which he tweeted Thursday night. In less than 24 hours it has been seen two million times.
The Trump administration announced Thursday a plan to offer states more control to cap Medicaid spending for some of their poorest residents in exchange for accepting a limit on federal funding. This proposal would impose strict limits on Medicaid coverage.
Davidson works as a doctor in Spring Lake, and after failing to beat Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) for a seat in Congress, he is now the executive director of the Committee to Protect Medicare. Davidson, who was in Iowa prior to the caucuses next week, told Pence he was concerned the plan would affect his patients. The vice president seemed taken off guard by the questioning.
"I hadn't heard about cuts to Medicaid," he said.
"Cutting Medicaid, yeah," said Davidson. "The head of CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) announced the plan to let states file for waivers so they can get block grants. That would essentially cut the amount of money going to the states. So that would cut federal Medicaid funding. Is that a good idea?"
Pence replied by saying when he was the governor of Indiana, the state got a waiver from the Obama administration.
"It actually allowed us to expand Medicaid coverage," he said.
Medicaid is a $600 billion program run on the federal and state level that provide healthcare coverage to about 70 million low income people. There are more than 600,000 people in Michigan on Medicaid.
The Obama administration, under the Affordable Care Act, gave states the option to expand the program with federal dollars. While the Trump administration campaigned on protecting Medicaid, the president's proposed budgets have repeatedly called for limits on the federal funding of the program.
"Your administration just announced this today," Davidson said to Pence, "they rolled it out today. And it's going to affect millions of people across the country, cutting Medicaid. Is that a good idea or is that a bad idea" he asked the vice president again.
"I think you're oversimplifying it. I really do," replied Pence and pointed back to how his expanded coverage during his tenure as governor of Indiana.
Davidson tells Pence that it seems the Trump administration is trying to contract Medicaid coverage instead of expanding it.
"I think Medicaid, you know, has a lot of problems," said Pence.
"It's been a godsend to the patients I serve in one of the poorest counties in the state of Michigan," Davidson replies, calling the program a lifeline.
Pence points back to states being able to take control of coverage, calling it "reform" and "innovation."
"Well, reform and innovation in the setting of cuts equals less people with healthcare," said Davidson.
The exchange ends with Pence telling Davidson he "respectfully disagrees." The two shook hands and Pence thanked Davidson for his care as a doctor.
Pence's team has not responded to questions about the video.
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