U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., flanked by U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, speaks to a crowd of employees at the Koura plant in St. Gabriel, La., on Nov. 17, 2023. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator).
NEW ORLEANS – Residents vented their frustration with the Trump administration’s recent actions to overhaul the federal government Tuesday at a town hall U.S. Rep. Troy Carter held at Dillard University to discuss potential cuts to Medicaid.
More than one-third of Louisiana residents were enrolled in Medicaid as of February 2025, according to data from the Louisiana Department of Health, and over 50% of Orleans Parish residents rely on the program. Medicaid provides health care to low-income families and people who are disabled, pregnant or have life-threatening conditions.
But voters brought up a variety of other issues that have arisen over Donald Trump’s first two months in office — including federal budget cuts to the Department of Education, weapons shipments to Israel, the arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and how to best mobilize against the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine democratic processes.
Carter, a Democrat representing Louisiana’s 2nd District, said the current state of affairs amounts to “a constitutional crisis.”
“If the federal government doesn’t provide for these issues, state by state, there will be people that will go unserved,” Carter said. “We can’t afford to have people discriminated against, isolated and left to die.”
Attendees told Carter that they felt helpless, confused and worried about the federal government’s actions. In response, Carter told the concerned residents to take to social media and to call elected officials in Louisiana and other states to express their dissatisfaction with Democratic leaders in Congress.
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One attendee, Andrew Cosgrove, asked Carter how to increase political engagement among residents. Carter’s response — encouraging voting and organizing among church groups and on social media — did little to satisfy Cosgrove or other attendees who spoke with Verite News.
“It seemed like he had no plan and no answers,” Cosgrove told Verite News after the town hall. “He’s saying, ‘Make sure you vote next time,’ but he’s talking to a room of folks who voted and then took time out of their night to go to a town hall meeting, so that didn’t make any sense to me.”
Carter hosted a panel with three health care experts — Shondra Williams, president and CEO of health equity system InclusivCare; Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the director of the City of New Orleans Health Department; and Dr. Rebekah Gee, the former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health — who spoke to the community about what Medicaid cuts would mean for Louisiana.They emphasized the role Medicaid has played in increasing access to rural health and preventative care, including early cancer diagnoses.
In 2016, Louisiana expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, which Avegno said allowed rural hospitals in the state to remain open as others in the region shuttered. Around 70% of Louisiana’s $19.9 billion health care budget now comes from federal funds.
Now, the federal program, along with Medicare, face up to $880 billion in budget cuts over the next ten years to continue financing Trump’s 2017 tax law, set to expire at the end of the year, as well as increase defense and border spending. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the only way the Trump administration can complete its spending goals is by cutting Medicaid or Medicare. The bill, which has already passed through the House, would also cut $230 million from the committee that oversees SNAP and farmer support programs over the next decade.
Budget cuts would cause some people to lose their coverage and undo positive health care outcomes the state has seen since Medicaid expansion, panelists said. Avegno said that Medicaid cuts could also overburden hospitals that see lots of Medicaid patients if rural hospitals are forced to close.
“People will be sicker when they present,” Avegno said. “They will show up in the ER in distress, and there will be more deaths.”
Carter told Verite News that based on pure numbers, the bill would pass easily in the Senate. But, he also said that Democrat lawmakers will “try to block” the Medicaid slashing bill and others that could jeopardize citizens’ quality of life, especially those that may be unconstitutional. Some voters expressed frustration with the lack of specificity in Carter’s responses in how to stop bills from being signed.
“So what people, I think, were asking for was something specific that doesn’t exist,” Carter said after the town hall. “There isn’t a law. Because we don’t have the votes to pass a law.”
During the town hall, Mid-City resident Lalla Robinson accused Carter of speaking in platitudes and said she wants more honesty from her elected officials.
“They won’t say they don’t know what to do,” Robinson said. “They need to be honest about that.”
Others, though, said it was up to the people to fight back against Trump’s policies. Sheila Bernard came to the town hall because she was concerned about the new presidential administration’s actions. Bernard is on Medicare, and said she was still worried after hearing from the panelists.
“We really have to come up with strategies to make our voices heard,” Bernard said.
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This article first appeared on Verite News New Orleans and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.