‘The Pitt' Season 2 will take on Trump policy changes such as Medicaid cuts, ICE raids

USA Today

7 days ago

With Season 2 production already underway, the creative team behind "The Pitt" is promising that the acclaimed medical drama will continue to tackle real-world situations faced by patients and healthcare workers including ICE raids and new cuts to Medicaid spending imposed by the Trump administration.
In an interview with Variety published Aug. 7, series star Noah Wyle and executive producers John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill confirmed that the sophomore season will integrate the passing of President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" into storylines.
Signed into law on July 4, the legislation cuts nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid spending and is expected to eliminate insurance coverage for 11.8 million people over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Wells defended the decision adding that writers do not need to take a political stance to discuss how the changes to Medicaid are going to impact the healthcare industry, Variety reported. He acknowleged that changes have been critcized by some GOP officials like Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri, who on July 15 introduced a bill that would repeal some of the cuts to rural hospitals.
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"I don't want to have an argument about whether or not they're appropriate, what Congress did or didn't do. But they're going to have on-the-ground, immediate consequences in emergency rooms, and nobody's arguing with that. That's a bipartisan agreement," Wells told the outlet. "You've got very Republican senators from Missouri like Josh Hawley agreeing that this is going to be a problem."
Wells added that he believes many are apathetic toward healthcare workers due to a lack of awareness about the pressures they regularly face in the medical system. Both Wyle and Gemmill argued that the "ignorance" toward healthcare workers comes from "the highest levels" of the U.S. government, the outlet reported.
Team spoke with hundreds of medical professionals
The show's creative team has spoke with hundreds of medical professionals to predict the immediate concerns hospitals can start facing as soon as next year, Variety reported.
Wyle said that by portraying the real intricacies of the medical system, viewers can determine for themselves whether it is "untenable, unfair and skewed towards one population over another."
"We have a certain safety net in just being a realistic drama by trying to depict what it looks like in a hospital," he told the outlet. "You're not making value judgments. You're just painting a picture, and if it's accurate enough and it's representative enough, it becomes a bit of a Rorschach test. You see what you want to see in it and you draw your own conclusions from it."
Season to also portray treatment of undocumented families
In addition to Medicaid cuts, Season 2 also plans to delve into the Trump administration's border crackdown and recent ICE deportations with the treatment of undocumented and immigrant families in storylines, Wyle, Wells and Gemmill told Variety.
Gemmill said the creative team feel a sense of responsibility over the content they release knowing that their first season reached an audience of more than 10 million people.
"We take our platform very seriously," he added. "You have to be responsible for what you put out there."
The first season, which premiered in early January, tackled various social issues that healthcare workers witness in the profession from abortion, human trafficking, hate crimes, drug addiction and gun violence.
The series – all 15 Season 1 episodes are available for streaming – has become among HBO Max's most-watched titles globally and landed 13 Emmy nominations including one for Wyle in the best lead actor in a drama series category.