West Michigan doctor confronts VP Mike Pence over Medicaid cuts

(WXYZ) — A video of a West Michigan doctor confronting Vice President Mike Pence over Medicaid cuts has gone viral on Twitter.

Dr. Rob Davidson, who is also the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Medicare, tweeted the video on Thursday from the Drake Diner in Des Moines, Iowa.

"I'm an emergency doctor I'm worried about the plans they talked about last week of maybe cutting Medicare. And then the rollout today cutting Medicaid," Davidson said to Pence. "I work in one of the poorest counties in Michigan and my patients depend on expanded Medicaid. So how is that going to affect my patients?"

Pence responded by saying that he hadn't heard about cuts to Medicare.

Davidson then talked about the CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) plan that would let states file for waivers to get block grants and cut the money going to states and therefore cut the federal funding. He then asked Pence if it was a good idea.

Pence responded by talking about his time as Indiana's governor, before Davidson talked about scaling back the Medicaid expansion with the ACA, saying it would affect 680,000 people in Michigan and another 600,000 in Iowa.

"I think you're oversimplying things," Pence said.

"I think it comes down to that for the people I take care of all the time,” Davidson responded. “People I see in the emergency department that can’t get primary care doctors, but once they got Medicaid they could get primary care doctors. They stay out of the ER, they actually work more, they actually contributed to our community more.”

You can watch the interaction in the video below.

According to his bio on the Committee to Protect Medicare website, Davidson has nearly 20 years experience in the emergency department at the hospital in West Michigan. He also graduated from Michigan State University.

Davidson ran as a Democrat for Michigan's 2nd Congressional District but lost to Rep. Bill Huizenga.