Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running for Michigan governor as an independent after decades as a self-proclaimed Democrat, downplayed the impact of sweeping Medicaid cuts under former President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Speaking to business leaders at a Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce event last week, Duggan said the reductions “aren’t as bad as they look” and defended the law’s controversial work requirement for Medicaid recipients.
“You know what the Medicaid work requirement is?” Duggan said. “Either you’re looking for work, or you’re taking high school courses, you’re taking job training courses, or you’re volunteering in your community. If you’re doing any of those things, you keep your Medicaid. There’s no cut.”
Duggan went on to argue that the key is implementation.
“These Medicaid cuts are not as bad as they look, if state government knows what it’s doing,” he said.
If elected governor, Duggan said he would build a computer system to help residents log their work, education, or volunteer hours to remain eligible.
But health care leaders and Democrats say Duggan is ignoring the reality of Trump’s legislation, which slashes $840 billion from Medicaid over the next decade and adds new administrative barriers that experts say will cause millions of low-income Americans to lose coverage.
Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, warned the cuts “will be disastrous for Michigan health care,” saying hospitals “will be faced with difficult choices that will include eliminating service lines or even entire facilities.” Peters said the bill will cost Michigan hospitals more than $6 billion in Medicaid funding over ten years.
Rural hospitals, many of which are struggling, stand to be hit hardest. In the Upper Peninsula, Ontonagon’s only hospital has closed, Aspirus Health in Ironwood has stopped delivering babies, and Sturgis Hospital recently ended inpatient care. A Republican hospital executive in Hillsdale even called Trump’s bill “devastating,” saying it “is going to hurt lives in this country — not just in Michigan, but in rural hospitals across the country.”
Polling from the Michigan Health and Hospital Association shows 86% of residents believe Medicaid is vital to their community, and 76% say it’s important to their families and friends. More than 700,000 Michiganders are projected to lose coverage as a result of the new law, which includes shorter eligibility periods, added reporting requirements, and expanded work rules that states must enforce.
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel accused Duggan of siding with Trump’s donors over working families.
“Mike Duggan’s campaign is being bankrolled by MAGA donors and loyalists to Donald Trump, and now he’s dismissing concerns about Michiganders who are going to lose their care,” Hertel said. “More than 700,000 people across the state are set to lose their coverage, health care costs are going up, and hospitals are struggling to stay afloat — but for Duggan, these cuts ‘are not as bad as they look.’”
Duggan’s campaign pushed back, saying in a written statement that the mayor “has been one of Michigan’s strongest and most vocal supporters for expanding Medicaid coverage for the last 20 years.”
Campaign spokesperson Andrea Bitley said that Duggan was “strongly opposed to the cuts this year.” But when asked to point to Duggan’s public opposition to the GOP cuts, Bitley simply responded, “He’s addressed it multiple times.”
Metro Times couldn’t find an instance in which Duggan spoke out against the Medicaid cuts.
Bitley said Duggan, who previously served as CEO of the Detroit Medical Center in 2004, was trying to explain that he plans to build the proper infrastructure to prevent many Michigan residents from losing their Medicaid.
“The Mayor promised as Governor to implement a statewide computer program, making Michigan the easiest state in the country to document qualifying volunteer, education, or work activities so that our eligible residents will not lose their Medicaid coverage,” Bitley said. “The Mayor clearly explained that loss of Medicaid coverage in Michigan will not be as bad as predicted if you have the leadership of a governor who truly understands national healthcare knows how to implement an aggressive enrollment strategy.”
While Duggan’s proposal might reduce some bureaucratic hurdles, it can’t overturn the structural cuts in Trump’s bill. The majority of people who lose Medicaid under work-requirement programs do so because of confusing paperwork, short renewal periods, and strict federal rules, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research organization based in California. Even with a modern computer system, Michigan would still be obligated to follow the federal law’s eligibility cuts and new verification mandates, which are expected to strip coverage from hundreds of thousands of residents.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 12 million Americans could lose Medicaid coverage nationwide.
The Michigan League for Public Policy has warned that no amount of technology or reporting improvements can prevent people from losing coverage under Trump’s law.
Since Duggan announced his campaign for governor, he has tried to court independents and Republicans by attacking Democrats and adopting GOP talking points, including calling undocumented immigrants “illegal” in January while speaking to business leaders. When called out by pro-immigration groups, Duggan dismissed the criticism as “political correctness,” another term that conservatives have adopted.
Duggan’s political balancing act is turning off many Democrats. As Metro Times previously reported, Duggan’s campaign has raised millions from wealthy GOP funders, including major Trump donors Roger Penske, Ron Weiser, and J.C. Huizenga.
Meanwhile, Michigan is bracing for deep budget reductions from the federal cuts. A July report by the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council warned that the One Big Beautiful Bill will cost the state more than $1 billion in lost revenue and could force major reductions in health and social programs.
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