President Trump is throwing a preelection curveball aimed at seniors with a surprise announcement on Thursday that his administration will send $200 coupons to 33 million seniors on Medicare to use to pay for prescription drugs. 

The move raises legal questions, given that Congress has not authorized the roughly $7 billion in spending, and Democrats and some health experts said it would be an unprecedented use of the Medicare program for political gain ahead of the election. 

Trump made no effort to disguise the fact that he sees the move as a political benefit with seniors, a key voting bloc, ahead of the election. 

An analysis from FiveThirtyEight this month found that Biden was up in polls among voters 65 and older by about 4 percentage points, a reversal from 2016, when Trump won that age group by 13.3 percentage points. 

“He has to make sure he wins seniors in Florida,” GOP strategist Ford O’Connell said of Trump. “Florida and Arizona is where seniors are a big part of the vote.”

Read more from Peter Sullivan at The Hill

President Trump is searching for a health care victory ahead of the 2020 election, and has turned to executive action to try to achieve it. 

The administration is looking to fend off attacks from Democrats, who see the president as particularly vulnerable on health care.

Trump has long cast himself as “Big Pharma’s” main villain. He recently said drug prices will fall dramatically because of his actions.

GOP strategist Ford O'Connell said the administration officials are aware of the limitations, and are not trying to enact a sweeping policy change just ahead of the election. 

Instead, O'Connell said voters should view the effort as Trump signaling a second-term policy.

“This is not necessarily reaching for a health care victory right now,” O'Connell said. “I find he is less vulnerable if he is making the case that [if] you reelect me, I'm going to make drug prices lower.”

Read more from Nathanial Weixel at The Hill

Senior voters could hold the key to Democratic success in the 2018 midterm elections.

The party has experienced an exodus of older Americans over the past few midterms. The past three midterm cycles — 2006, 2010 and 2014 — saw the party’s share of age 65-and-over voters fall by 17 percentage points.

Amid that slide, Democrats lost majorities in both the House and Senate.

But while President Trump won over 52 percent of seniors in November, Democrats are hoping that Trump and congressional Republicans are providing the party with openings around issues such as healthcare and his budget proposal that can be used to win older voters back.

Republican strategists blamed the exodus in part on shifts in Democratic priorities towards wooing younger voters and away from traditional values. They also cite voters’ perceptions that Republicans are better on economic issues.

“With the Democratic Party’s focus on open borders, what could be called excessive entitlements and identity politics, today’s Democratic Party is simply not speaking the same language,” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell.

O’Connell added that Trump’s promise not to touch Social Security or Medicare, two programs dear to seniors, will help keep older Americans from abandoning Republicans.

Read more from Ben Kamisar at The Hill

From The Hill:

Good sign for Romney-Ryan ticket, who must win seniors and the state of Florida if they are to unseat the incumbent Obama-Biden ticket.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released early Wednesday found that 50 percent of senior citizens 65 years and older have a favorable view of Paul Ryan, the GOP vice presidential pick, while 35 percent hold an unfavorable view. Fifteen percent, the poll found, don't have an opinion. 

Democrats had expected Rep. Ryan (R-Wis.) to be especially unpopular with older Americans because of his budget proposal, which shifts Medicare into a subsidized private insurance model system for those currently under the age of 55. President Obama's campaign has hit Ryan hard for his Medicare plans, saying they would raise healthcare costs for seniors.

But Ryan, since presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney tapped him for the ticket, has not shied away from his budget plan. He has countered with attacks on Obama, claiming he weakened Medicare by cutting funds to pay for his healthcare reform bill.