Poll: Even MAHA backers see little Trump health policy impact — SkimNews
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- AP/KFF poll of 2,241 rural registered voters (conducted Aug. 12–24, 2026) found roughly 8 in 10 said the Trump administration's health policies have had a negative effect or no impact on people where they live.
- MAHA supporters are not insulated from that assessment: 68% also said Trump's health policies have had negative or no impact on their communities, signaling a gap between the movement's branding and rural on-the-ground experience.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has used the MAHA label to push changes to long-standing vaccine guidance, research into ultraprocessed foods, and investment in regenerative agriculture — but rural voters report limited tangible results.
- Iowa pastor Mike Jager, a Republican MAHA supporter, called the administration's health policy impact "minimal" but said Kennedy is moving "in the right direction"; he voted for MAHA-aligned gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn over Trump-backed U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra in the June primary.
- Rural health care access is worsening: 35% of rural voters said their community lacks enough hospitals, up from 21% in a 2017 KFF-Washington Post survey, and nearly half said there aren't enough doctors or mental health providers.
- Medicaid cuts loom large: 80% of working-age rural Medicaid enrollees said they're worried about health care costs, after congressional Republicans passed a bill cutting more than $900 billion in projected Medicaid spending over a decade and imposing new eligibility requirements.
- Trust in Kennedy splits starkly by party: 74% of rural Republicans reported a great deal or fair amount of trust in him for health information versus 10% of rural Democrats; for Trump, the split was 69% of rural Republicans vs. 5% of rural Democrats.
Why it matters: Two-thirds of rural MAHA supporters said it is extremely or very important to vote for a MAHA-aligned candidate — and some, like Jager, have already chosen a MAHA candidate over a Trump-backed one. With rural hospital shortages worsening (35% vs. 21% in 2017) and $900 billion in Medicaid cuts now law, the administration faces a credibility test in the rural bloc it depends on for midterm margins.
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