By CHRIS MEGERIAN (Associated Press)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris promoted their health care plans in North Carolina, stating that Democrats like themselves would maintain access to care while Republicans would undo progress made over the past fifteen years.
Fourteen years after President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, the White House still sees health care as a winning issue during a campaign in which Biden has sometimes found himself on the defensive when it comes to immigration or the economy. Republicans have opposed Biden’s key plans to lower medical costs, and they’ve taken opportunities to limit abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade.
“It’s sick. Now they want to quote, his words, terminate the ACA, as my predecessor says,” Biden said, referring to Republican former President Donald Trump. “If that were ever to happen, we’d also terminate a lot of lives as well. But we’re not going to let that happen, are we? We’re not going to let that happen.”
North Carolina was Biden’s final stop on a tour of battleground states after his State of the Union address this month, which jump-started a busy travel schedule as the Democratic president makes his case for a second term in a likely rematch with Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
The state is also a health care success story for the president. The American Rescue Plan, a coronavirus pandemic recovery measure signed by Biden, included financial rewards for states to expand Medicaid coverage for low-income residents. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, used the money, which amounted to $1.8 billion, to convince Republican lawmakers to support his plan. More than 600,000 residents are expected to qualify.
Biden and Harris visited hours after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case about access to mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill. The justices appeared inclined to preserve access to the medication.
The White House has tried to make mifepristone more available as one of its few opportunities to protect women’s ability to end their pregnancies.
Afterward, Biden and Harris attended a campaign fundraiser in Raleigh that raised $2.3 million, said Cooper. Harris told supporters, “This is the most existential, consequential and important election of our lifetime.” Biden asked, “Does anyone here want to go back to 2020?” and the crowd shouted, ”No.”
Biden’s approval ratings on health care are among his highest on a range of issues, but he trails there, too, According to a February poll from The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 42% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s handling of health care while 55% disapprove.
KFF, a health policy research firm, found in its own poll in November that 59% of U.S. adults trust the Democratic Party to do a better job addressing health care affordability issues. Only 39% said the same about Republicans. There was a similar divide in trust when it came to access to mental health care, prescription drug costs and the future of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid.
Trump has not explained his ideas for health care in detail. Even though he has been campaigning since 2016 to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Trump recently denied wanting to do so in a social media post. He instead promised to improve the Affordable Care Act without giving specifics.
Despite this, health care has not been a major focus in his 2024 campaign as he concentrates on immigration, inflation, and the conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.
Surveys show a close competition between Biden and Trump, and Democrats are aiming to find another potential way to win in North Carolina.
Even though Democrats have not won a U.S. Senate seat or a presidential race in North Carolina since 2008, the White House keeps highlighting federal funds for transportation, rural broadband, and other projects while sending top officials to the state.
Democrats also want to take advantage of what they see as weaknesses in Republican candidates for statewide positions. For instance, the party's nominees for governor and state schools superintendent, Mark Robinson and Michele Morrow, have a history of controversial remarks.
State Sen. Jay Chaudhuri of Raleigh, the chamber's Democratic whip, expressed concern that the Republican slate at the statewide level is filled with MAGA extremists, which could diminish the Republicans' chances of winning the state again.
Democrats are hoping that unaffiliated voters, who make up the largest group in North Carolina, will become less supportive of Trump out of concern that his election, along with Robinson and Morrow, could make businesses hesitant to relocate to a state experiencing economic growth.
