Latest news with #ScottJennings
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Health
- Miami Herald
Fact check: Are 5 million nondisabled Medicaid recipients watching TV all day? That's unsupported
"Almost 5 million able-bodied Medicaid recipients 'simply choose not to work' and 'spend six hours a day socializing and watching television.'" Scott Jennings on "CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip" on July 1 ____ Republicans defended the GOP megabill's Medicaid changes as targeting a group of people they believe shouldn't qualify: people who can work but instead choose to stay home and chill. Several Republican politicians and pundits, including CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings, pegged that group's size at about 5 million people. "There are like almost 5 million able-bodied people on Medicaid who simply choose not to work," Jennings said July 1 on "CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip." "They spend six hours a day socializing and watching television. And if you can't get off grandma's couch and work, I don't want to pay for your welfare." Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz picked up on some of these points during a July 14 appearance on Fox News. "When the program was created 60 years ago, it never dawned on anyone that you would take able-bodied individuals who could work and put them on Medicaid. Today the average able-bodied person on Medicaid who doesn't work, they watch 6.1 hours of television or just hang out," Oz said. Medicaid is a federal-state health insurance program that covers medical care for lower-income people. Jennings cited two pieces of data: an estimate of how many fewer people would have coverage because of the work requirement and an analysis of how nonworking Medicaid recipients spend their time. But he made assumptions that the data doesn't support. Jennings Misrepresents CBO Estimate The 4.8 million figure stems from a June 24 Congressional Budget Office analysis of a preliminary House version of the massive tax and spending package. The office, Congress' nonpartisan research arm, projected that provisions of the bill would cause 7.8 million fewer people to have health coverage by 2034. They would include 4.8 million people previously eligible for Medicaid described as "able-bodied" adults 19 to 64 years old who have no dependents and who "do not meet the community engagement requirement" of doing "work-related activities" at least 80 hours a month. Apart from working, doing community service and attending school also fulfill the community engagement requirement. Jennings paired that statistic with a separate analysis of how nondisabled adult Medicaid recipients without dependent children spend their time. But the CBO estimate was a projection - it doesn't represent the current number of nondisabled Medicaid recipients, nor does it say 4.8 million people in this group "choose not to work." The figure represented how many fewer people would have coverage because of the bill's community engagement requirement. "The challenge with Jennings' comments - and they've been echoed elsewhere by elected Republicans - is that CBO never said that 4.8 million people were out of compliance with the proposed work requirements; they said that 4.8 million people would lose coverage because of the work requirements," said Adrianna McIntyre, an assistant professor of health policy and politics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Among the Medicaid expansion population, the law requires most adults without dependent children and parents of children older than 13 to work or participate in other qualifying activities 80 hours every month. States will need to verify that applicants met the work requirement for one to three months before they applied. States will also be required to verify that existing enrollees met the work requirement for at least a month between eligibility determinations, which will be required at least twice a year. Research into Medicaid work requirements imposed at the state level has shown that people found it difficult to fulfill them and submit documentation, contributing to coverage losses. In Arkansas, which added a work requirement to Medicaid in 2018, a study based on nearly 6,000 respondents found that about 95% of the target population were already working or qualified for an exemption, but a third of them did not hear about the work requirements. As a result, nearly 17,000 Medicaid recipients subject to work requirements lost coverage. KFF found that adults ages 50 to 64 are more at risk of losing Medicaid coverage because of the new work requirements. More than 1 in 10 in that age group said they had retired, and among them, 28% reported being disabled, said KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. Benjamin Sommers, a health care economics professor at the Harvard Chan school, said many of the 4.8 million "able-bodied" people in the CBO estimate "will actually be engaged in the activities they are supposed to be doing, and lose coverage because they are not able to navigate the reporting requirements with the state and lose coverage from red tape." When Recipients Don't Work, It's Rarely From Lack of Interest There is no universal definition for "able-bodied"; disability can be assessed in different ways. But other studies offer much smaller estimates than 4.8 million Medicaid recipients without dependents who can work but choose not to. Millions of working-age, nondisabled adults joined the Medicaid ranks in states that expanded eligibility under the Affordable Care Act. There were about 34 million working-age nondisabled Medicaid enrollees in 2024, according to the CBO, 15 million of whom enrolled through the ACA. A KFF analysis found a smaller figure of 26 million Medicaid-covered adults, ages 19 to 64, who don't receive Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance, or Medicare benefits. Among this group, KFF estimated, 64% were working either full time or part time. The reasons the rest were not working included caregiving (12%); illness or disability (10%); retirement, inability to find work, or other reason (8%); and school attendance (7%). Few people cited lack of interest in working as the reason for their unemployment. An Urban Institute study found 2% of Medicaid expansion enrollees without dependents who neither worked nor attended school - or 300,000 people out of a projected 15 million subject to work requirements - cited a lack of interest in working as the reason they were unemployed. This was consistent with the Brookings Institution's June 5 analysis that found that, of 4.3 million adult enrollees who worked fewer than 80 hours a month and did not have any activity limitations or illnesses, about 300,000 reported that they "did not work because they did not want to." Mostly Women, Mostly With a High School Degree or Less When Republicanshave described nondisabled adult Medicaid recipients, they have often portrayed them as men in their 30s "playing video games" in their parents' basement or who "smoke weed all day." Research paints a different picture. Jane Tavares and Marc Cohen, of the University of Massachusetts-Boston Gerontology Department, researched Medicaid recipients who are not disabled or working, have no dependent children under 18, and are not in school. They cited 2023 census data from the American Community Survey. They found: --The average age of this population is 41, and 26% are older than 50. --Almost 80% are female. --Most, 80%, have a high school education or less. --Their median individual income is $0, and their median household income is $44,800. --About 56% worked in the past five years, and 23% worked in the prior year. About 30% are looking or available for work. "They are not healthy young adults just hanging out," the authors, along with health law experts Sara Rosenbaum and Alison Barkoff, wrote April 30. "It's clear based on their prior work history and family size/income that they are exceptionally poor and have likely left the workforce to care for adult children or older adults," Tavares told PolitiFact. "Even if these individuals could work, they would have very few job opportunities and it would come at the cost of the people they are providing care for." AEI Study Not Definitively Linked to CBO Estimate On the social platform X, Jennings posted the CBO letter and a May 29 analysis by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, about "how nondisabled Medicaid recipients without children spend their time." PolitiFact contacted CNN to reach Jennings but did not receive a reply. The author of that study, American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Kevin Corinth, analyzed survey data and found that Medicaid recipients who do not report working spend on average 6.1 hours a day "on all socializing, relaxing and leisure activities (including television and video games)." But it's uncertain whether the people in the survey population he analyzed overlap with the people included in the CBO analysis, said Jennifer Tolbert, deputy director of KFF's Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Corinth told PolitiFact "it is difficult to say" how the population he analyzed differs from the CBO's. Tavares, Cohen, Rosenbaum, and Barkoff said Corinth's dataset defined disability narrowly, leading to a "serious underestimation of disability" among the population of Medicaid recipients he looked into. It focused on Medicaid recipients who receive Supplemental Security Income or have a health condition that prevents them from working. The researchers said this approach is too narrow because the SSI program accounts for only those "most deeply impoverished adults with severe disabilities." The group gave a hypothetical example of a 54-year-old woman with a serious heart condition who can work only a few hours a week. She may not be considered disabled under the SSI program, but she may be limited in the work she can do and may need time to rest. "Using her 'leisure time' to justify a work requirement grossly misrepresents her reality," the group wrote. Corinth's analysis also shows that nonworking Medicaid recipients spend less time socializing, relaxing, or engaged in leisure activities than nonworking people who aren't covered by Medicaid. Nonworking Medicaid recipients also spend more time looking for work and doing housework and errands, it found. Our Ruling Jennings said almost 5 million nondisabled Medicaid recipients "simply choose not to work" and "spend six hours a day socializing and watching television." The 5 million figure stems from a CBO projection that 4.8 million people would go without coverage by 2034 as a result of not fulfilling the community engagement requirements. It is not descriptive of current enrollees and does not specify that these people choose not to work. Jennings cited an American Enterprise Institute analysis on how nondisabled Medicaid recipients with no dependents spend their time, but it is uncertain if the population in that analysis overlaps with that in the CBO estimate. Current snapshots of the population Jennings described produce a smaller number. A survey by the Urban Institute found that 2% of Medicaid expansion enrollees without dependents who were neither working nor attending school - about 300,000 people - cited a lack of interest in working. Other research has found reasons this group doesn't work include caregiving, illness or disability, retirement, and inability to find work. Studies of nonworking Medicaid recipients have found the majority are women and have a high school education or less. Their average age is 41, and more than half have a work history in the past five years. We rate Jennings' statement False. ____ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
CNN panel devolves into chaos after commentator suggests Trump wasn't actually shot in the ear
Pandemonium broke out on a CNN panel Thursday night after one guest implied that President Donald Trump wasn't shot at the Butler campaign rally just over a year ago. During a CNN panel discussion about the White House's transparency on Trump's health, leftist podcast host Touré suggested that Trump wasn't shot in the ear on camera in front of a large crowd in Pennsylvania by a would-be assassin last year. The statement threw the CNN "NewsNight" panel into chaos. "He supposedly got shot in the ear. We never heard from his doctors about that," Touré said, triggering CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings who demanded that host Abby Phillip step in to correct the record. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Uh-uh!" Scott replied, waving his hands. "Did you say 'supposedly?' Abby, Abby," he said, turning to the host. Flashback: Karine Jean-pierre Declared 'There Is No Cover-up' Of Biden's Health After He Dropped Out Of Race As Jennings sought the moderator, Touré raised his voice and continued to press his point. Read On The Fox News App "When did we hear from his doctors? When did we hear from his doctors?" he asked. Phillip tried to calm the clash, stating, "Hold on. If you all stop screaming at the table, maybe I can actually respond." Days after the would-be assassin Thomas Crooks took shots at Trump at the July 13 rally, former White House doctor and former Trump physician Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, revealed he was monitoring the-then candidate's health and declared there was "absolutely no evidence" he was hit with "anything other than a bullet." As members of the panel – which included former Harris campaign spokesperson Adrienne Elrod and conservative commentator Ben Freguson – attempted to press their points again, Phillip held them off. "Hold on a second! Hold on a second," she said, putting her hands up. "Touré, he was shot in the ear." White House Says Trump 'Trusts His Physicians' Following Biden's Cancer Announcement Still, Touré wasn't satisfied. "But can we hear from the doctors? We would always hear from his doctors when he gets shot?" he asked. Phillip punted the question to Jennings. The commentator replied, "I mean, all I know is, I went to the Republican National Convention and he had a bandage on his ear." As the pundit spoke, Touré kept interjecting, "That would be 'no.' That would be 'no'. That would be 'no.'" Meanwhile, Ferguson tried to get words in before Phillip had to shut down the conversation. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture The topic started with Elrod talking about the White House releasing a statement on Trump's health after recent photos showed discoloration on his hands and swollen ankles. "The president underwent a comprehensive examination, including diagnostic vascular studies, bilateral lower extremity … venous Doppler ultrasounds were performed and revealed chronic venous insufficiency, a benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70," Leavitt said in a press conference Thursday. Elrod remarked that the White House showed transparency on this topic but alleged they sometimes do not regarding Trump's article source: CNN panel devolves into chaos after commentator suggests Trump wasn't actually shot in the ear
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
CNN panel ends in chaos after liberal guest makes shock claim about Trump
A CNN panel descended into chaos when a liberal pundit cast doubt on whether President Donald Trump was shot during the July 2024 assassination attempt. Touré stunned his co-panelists with a comment that prompted gasps and immediate demands for an on-air correction during a segment about the president's health. 'He supposedly got shot in the ear,' the podcaster said, referencing the incident in Butler, Pennsylvania last year. 'We never heard from his doctors about that.' The remark triggered an explosive exchange as CNN NewsNight anchor Abby Phillip struggled to maintain order. Touré got an instant rebuke from conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings, who sounded off in disbelief. 'Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Did you say supposedly?' Jennings snapped, turning to Phillip looking for her to intervene. 'Abby, Abby…' Phillip, who had already been attempting to corral a loud round of crosstalk between guests, tried to bring the panel under control. 'If y'all stop screaming at the table, maybe I can actually respond,' she said firmly. But by then the on-air brawl was in full flow. 'Supposedly. That's where we're at now,' added conservative radio host Ben Ferguson, shaking his head. 'Touré, he was shot in the ear.' As voices clashed across the table, Jennings pushed back: 'He had blood on his face! Where did it come from?' he demanded. 'I went to the Republican National Commission — he had a bandage on his ear.' But Touré doubled down, challenging the panel and White House for not providing more transparency. 'But did we hear from the doctors?' he pressed. 'Wouldn't we always hear from his doctors when he gets shot?' Phillip interjected again, trying to steer the segment back to its original focus on Trump's visible hand injuries and his doctor's recent note. 'This is not really what we're talking about,' she said. 'He is fine. It's just a function, frankly, of being an older person.' Phillip eventually cut through the noise. 'He was shot in the ear,' she said, firmly. 'We saw the blood. We saw the bandage.' Touré's eyebrow-raising comments came just over a year since 20-year-old Michael Thomas Crooks fired eight shots from a rooftop at Trump during a campaign stop in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing a rally-goer, injuring two others, and grazing Trump's right ear in what law enforcement later admitted was a catastrophic breakdown in security. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), a former White House physician, said Trump's wound came 'less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head,' and that it resulted in 'significant bleeding and marked swelling.' Photos of the aftermath showed the then-former president's bloodied face and bandaged ear, images that instantly became symbolic of what his supporters call his political resilience — and what his critics feared would reshape the race. The Secret Service response, however, was widely condemned, and multiple federal investigations later confirmed there were glaring lapses in planning, communication, and threat assessment. Investigations found that the rooftop from which Crooks fired, just 135 meters from the rally stage, was known to pose a risk. But plans to obstruct the view with farm equipment were never executed, and no agents were posted to the vantage point. Worse still, local law enforcement and Secret Service personnel were operating from two separate command posts, with communication described as a 'chaotic mixture' of text messages, phone calls, radio chatter, and emails. Despite repeated requests for additional manpower in the days leading up to the rally, the Secret Service was stretched thin. A Senate report released this month declared: 'There were multiple, unacceptable failures in the planning and execution of the July 13 Butler rally.' Crooks was ultimately killed by a Secret Service countersniper moments after his rampage began. He left behind no manifesto and little trace of motive, and authorities believe he acted alone. The attack nevertheless prompted the swift resignation of Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle and spurred urgent reforms. That context made Touré's use of the word 'supposedly' all the more jarring — not just to his co-panelists, but to viewers still reeling from a shooting that nearly changed the course of US history.
Daily Mail
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
CNN panel devolves in chaos after liberal guest makes shock claim about Trump assassination attempt
A CNN panel descended into chaos when a liberal pundit cast doubt on whether President Donald Trump was shot during the July 2024 assassination attempt. Touré stunned his co-panelists with a comment that prompted gasps and immediate demands for an on-air correction during a segment about the president's health. 'He supposedly got shot in the ear,' the podcaster said, referencing the incident in Butler, Pennsylvania last year. 'We never heard from his doctors about that.' The remark triggered an explosive exchange as CNN NewsNight anchor Abby Phillip struggled to maintain order. Toure got an instant rebuke from conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings, who sounded off in disbelief. 'Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Did you say supposedly?' Jennings snapped, turning to Phillip looking for her to intervene. 'Abby, Abby…' Phillip, who had already been attempting to corral a loud round of crosstalk between guests, tried to bring the panel under control. Adrienne Elrod, a former campaign spokesperson for former Vice President Kamala Harris, accused the White House of having 'not always been forthcoming' about Trump's health 'If y'all stop screaming at the table, maybe I can actually respond,' she said firmly. But by the then on-air brawl was in full flow. 'Supposedly. That's where we're at now,' added conservative radio host Ben Ferguson, shaking his head. 'Touré, he was shot in the ear.' As voices clashed across the table, Jennings pushed back: 'He had blood on his face! Where did it come from?' he demanded. 'I went to the Republican National Commission - he had a bandage on his ear.' But Touré doubled down challenging the panel and White House for not providing more transparency. 'But did we hear from the doctors?' he pressed. 'Wouldn't we always hear from his doctors when he gets shot?' Phillip interjected again, trying to steer the segment back to its original focus on Trump's visible hand injuries and his doctor's recent note. 'This is not really what we're talking about,' she said. 'He is fine. It's just a function, frankly, of being an older person.' Phillip eventually cut through the noise. 'He was shot in the ear,' she said, firmly. 'We saw the blood. We saw the bandage.' Touré's eyebrow-raising comments came just over a year since 20-year-old Michael Thomas Crooks fired eight shots from a rooftop at Trump during a campaign stop in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing a rally-goer, injuring two others, and grazing Trump's right ear in what law enforcement later admitted was a catastrophic breakdown in security. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), a former White House physician, said Trump's wound came 'less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head,' and that it resulted in 'significant bleeding and marked swelling.' Photos of the aftermath showed the then-former president's bloodied face and bandaged ear, images that instantly became symbolic of what his supporters call his political resilience - and what his critics feared would reshape the race. The Secret Service response, however, was widely condemned, and multiple federal investigations later confirmed there were glaring lapses in planning, communication, and threat assessment. Investigations found that the rooftop from which Crooks fired, just 135 meters from the rally stage, was known to pose a risk. But plans to obstruct the view with farm equipment were never executed, and no agents were posted to the vantage point. Worse still, local law enforcement and Secret Service personnel were operating from two separate command posts, with communication described as a 'chaotic mixture' of text messages, phone calls, radio chatter, and emails. Despite repeated requests for additional manpower in the days leading up to the rally, the Secret Service was stretched thin. A Senate report released this month declared: 'There were multiple, unacceptable failures in the planning and execution of the July 13 Butler rally.' Crooks was ultimately killed by a Secret Service countersniper moments after his rampage began. He left behind no manifesto and little trace of motive, and authorities believe he acted alone. The attack nevertheless prompted the swift resignation of Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle and spurred urgent reforms. That context made Touré's use of the word 'supposedly' all the more jarring - not just to his co-panelists, but to viewers still reeling from a shooting that nearly changed the course of US history.
Fox News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
CNN panel devolves into chaos after commentator suggests Trump wasn't actually shot in the ear
Pandemonium broke out on a CNN panel Thursday night after one guest implied that President Donald Trump wasn't shot at the Butler campaign rally just over a year ago. During a CNN panel discussion about the White House's transparency on Trump's health, leftist podcast host Touré suggested that Trump wasn't shot in the ear on camera in front of a large crowd in Pennsylvania by a would-be assassin last year. The statement threw the CNN "NewsNight" panel into chaos. "He supposedly got shot in the ear. We never heard from his doctors about that," Touré said, triggering CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings who demanded that host Abby Phillip step in to correct the record. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Uh-uh!" Scott replied, waving his hands. "Did you say 'supposedly?' Abby, Abby," he said, turning to the host. As Jennings sought the moderator, Touré raised his voice and continued to press his point. "When did we hear from his doctors? When did we hear from his doctors?" he asked. Phillip tried to calm the clash, stating, "Hold on. If you all stop screaming at the table, maybe I can actually respond." Days after the would-be assassin Thomas Crooks took shots at Trump at the July 13 rally, former White House doctor and former Trump physician Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, revealed he was monitoring the-then candidate's health and declared there was "absolutely no evidence" he was hit with "anything other than a bullet." As members of the panel – which included former Harris campaign spokesperson Adrienne Elrod and conservative commentator Ben Freguson – attempted to press their points again, Phillip held them off. "Hold on a second! Hold on a second," she said, putting her hands up. "Touré, he was shot in the ear." Still, Touré wasn't satisfied. "But can we hear from the doctors? We would always hear from his doctors when he gets shot?" he asked. Phillip punted the question to Jennings. The commentator replied, "I mean, all I know is, I went to the Republican National Convention and he had a bandage on his ear." As the pundit spoke, Touré kept interjecting, "That would be 'no.' That would be 'no'. That would be 'no.'" Meanwhile, Ferguson tried to get words in before Phillip had to shut down the conversation. The topic started with Elrod talking about the White House releasing a statement on Trump's health after recent photos showed discoloration on his hands and swollen ankles. "The president underwent a comprehensive examination, including diagnostic vascular studies, bilateral lower extremity … venous Doppler ultrasounds were performed and revealed chronic venous insufficiency, a benign and common condition, particularly in individuals over the age of 70," Leavitt said in a press conference Thursday. Elrod remarked that the White House showed transparency on this topic but alleged they sometimes do not regarding Trump's health.
