Watch: Gov. Andy Beshear full speech at DNC convention
Andy Beshear, governor of Kentucky, spoke in support of Kamala Harris at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear argued the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax policy bill will have a “devastating” impact on rural communities.
“It’s the single worst piece of legislation I’ve seen in my lifetime, and it is a congressional Republican and presidential attack on rural America,” the Democrat told CNN’s Dana Bash in a July 6 interview on “State of the Union.”
He said around 200,000 people in Kentucky are could lose their healthcare under the bill, which implements new work requirements for Medicaid and a raft of other restrictions that healthcare experts argue will trigger hospital closures in rural areas.
Lawmakers included a $50 billion fund in the legislation to prop up these hospitals, but experts say it won’t be enough to make up for the $155 billion expected decline in federal Medicaid spending in rural areas.
Beshear, who is considered a potential presidential candidate for the party in 2028, said up to 35 rural hospitals in Kentucky could be at risk of closing as a result of the bill.
“What that means is our economy takes a huge hit,” he said.
“You lose 200 jobs from doctors and nurses and orderlies and all of a sudden the coffee shop does worse, the bank doesn’t have as many folks coming in. This is going to hit rural America right in the face.”
Still, Republicans have argued that the biggest expected cut to Medicaid – the implementation of work requirements for able-bodied adults – is popular among voters, and other changes such as more frequent eligibility checks are common sense options.
Democrats “unfortunately seem to think that poor people are stupid. I don’t think poor people are stupid. I think they have agency, and I think to have them register twice a year for these benefits is not a burden,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said on CNN on July 6.
“People who want to infantilize the poor and people who need these Medicaid benefits are alarmist.”
Republicans in Congress passed the massive tax-cut and spending package on July 3. Trump signed it into law on July 4.
It was the key goal for Trump and Republican leadership in Congress, which captured a trifecta during the 2024 elections and has used that political muscle to force what they’ve dubbed their “One Big, Beautiful Bill” through both chambers at a rapid-fire pace.
The passage came despite deep reservations within their own party and unanimous opposition from Democrats who see it as a ticket to winning back congressional majorities in 2026.
