President Joe Biden came to Virginia Beach on Tuesday afternoon, seeking to contrast his health-care proposals with those of congressional Republicans.

Biden made his remarks at the Kempsville Recreation Center, in the congressional district now represented by Republican Jen Kiggans. The person Kiggans defeated for that seat, Elaine Luria, was among the attendees. Biden accused Republicans of wanting to lower taxes on large companies and the richest Americans while cutting benefits offers by Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.

“Make no mistake, MAGA Republicans will try to take away people’s health care by cutting Medicaid and the ACA,” he said. “I will stop them.”

He described MAGA Republicans as “a different kind of cat” compared to other Republicans who are more open to compromise. Biden also said Democrats voted to raise the debt ceiling as the national debt grew from under $20 trillion to $26.9 trillion in the Donald Trump administration. He said his health care reforms would also bring down costs for government, and celebrated the Inflation Reduction Act that allows Medicare Part D to negotiate drug prices which is estimated to save $10 billion over the next decade.

He said proposals by Republicans to cut taxes for corporations and the rich would mean the budget would have to be reduced.

“How are they gonna make the numbers add up? What are they going to cut? That’s the big question for millions of Americans [where] health care hangs in the balance,” Biden said.

Biden flew to Naval Air Station Oceana before driving to the recreation center.

During the speech, Biden proposed capping the price of insulin at $35 for everyone who needs the drug. He said drug companies have good profit margins so bringing down costs for consumers will not be a huge problem. Drug industry representatives have maintained they need to make profits off the few drugs that make it to market to encourage investment and innovation. They also say other factors contribute to the high cost of drugs in the U.S., such as pharmacy benefit managers, hospital systems and insurance companies.

Biden said Republicans pushed during the Trump administration to repeal the Affordable Care Act, an effort that is still discussed in Republican circles today. Biden also spoke about struggling rural hospitals and how increasing the number of insured Americans will help reduce the amount of uncompensated care rural hospitals have to provide.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, led to multiple states expanding their Medicaid system after the bill was signed into law almost 13 years ago. States that expanded Medicaid saw uninsured rates for residents drop from a combined 35% to 17% between 2014 and 2020, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Over 727,000 Virginians have gotten health care coverage under Medicaid as of Feb. 15 because of the 2019 expansion in Virginia, according to data from the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services. Nearly 1 in 5 of those Virginians live in the seven cities of Hampton Roads. There are 11 states that have not joined in the ACA expansion. In its session this year, the North Carolina House of Representatives voted to expand the state’s Medicaid system with the ACA.

A study by the Republican Study Committee, which included U.S. Reps. Bob Good and Ben Cline from Virginia, said that the ACA has been a failure that has increased out-of-pocket costs, consolidation in the health care sector and given Americans fewer options for insurance in some states. The study proposed $3.6 trillion in cuts over the decade to the ACA, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program compared to projected increases.

Two weeks ago, Kiggans co-sponsored two resolutions — one to “save and strengthen” Medicare and the other affirming that the value of Social Security and cuts to the program would not be proposed in debt ceiling negotiations.

“No matter how many partisan rumors get thrown around by the White House, my stance will not change: I will always prioritize the needs of our seniors, my patients, and protect Social Security and Medicare,” Kiggans said in a Monday evening news release.

Each resolution was co-sponsored by 15 Republicans, including Kiggans and fellow Virginia Republican Rep. Rob Wittman. Neither has been voted on by the Republican-led chamber.

The resolutions were first co-sponsored by the group of Republicans that includes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia on Feb. 9 — one day after Biden’s State of the Union address in which he pointed out there was Republican support for cuts to these programs and Republicans shouted out in disagreement. Kiggans became a co-sponsor of both bills Feb. 14, according to Congress.gov.

Biden said he’d never been to a State of the Union where a president has negotiated with the opposition party during the speech. Republicans all stood up against cutting Social Security and Medicare when Biden said they were in favor of such moves. Tuesday Biden joked “Like I said, I believe in conversion.”

Among the crowd of roughly 500 on hand Tuesday was Hitesh Kumar Patel, who brought his 10-year-old daughter Mahek. Mahek said she was excited to see the president. Hitesh Patel said he is an independent, but likes the Biden administration’s track record so far. Before the speech, he said he was curious to learn more about the president’s goals for health care and what it might mean for his family.

Ian Munro, 757-447-4097, ian.munro@virginiamedia.com