Washington, D.C. — As a part of the Center for American Progress Action Fund’s ongoing seven-figure effort to educate Americans about President Trump’s false promises—and with President Trump’s 2020 budget expected to cut billions in funding for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security—CAP Action is releasing a new video in a targeted social media campaign. The campaign will tell stories of Americans such as Karl Dahlke of Pontiac, Michigan, a computer scientist who lost his sight to glaucoma before the age of 10. President Trump’s budget cuts put Americans like Dahlke at risk.
During the 2016 campaign, one of Trump’s central promises to voters was that he wouldn’t cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, “like every other Republican.” However, the reality has been much different. Over the next 10 years, President Trump’s budget proposal would spend $1.5 trillion less on Medicaid; $25 billion less on Social Security; and $845 billion less on Medicare. For people like Dahlke who rely on these programs, these budget cuts could be the difference between receiving the care they need and financial ruin. As Dahlke says in the video: “[Trump] promised he would protect Medicare, and then he wants to cut everything. We need to offer assistance to people who really need help.”
Dahlke lost his insurance in the 2008 financial crisis and has since struggled to recover. His wife is his primary caregiver and was diagnosed with cataracts that would have also left her blind; however, the Medicaid expansion allowed her to get the surgery she needed, which saved her vision.
“We called several insurance companies, no one would ensure her … We dipped in to savings. We dipped into inheritance. You do whatever you have to do to not lose your sight,” Dahlke says.
Now, President Trump’s budget cuts put both the Dahlkes’ health in jeopardy. He says that they are being protected by Medicaid expansion but worry that the budget cuts will cost them coverage again.
“You will do anything in this country to get health care,” he says.
For more information on this topic or to talk to an expert, please contact Freedom Alexander Murphy at [email protected] or 202.796.9712.