Raphael Stevens

Chick-fil-A will launch the Play app, which will host content aimed at families with children aged 12 and under.
Research and conversations with customers found a connection between consuming content and mealtimes, according to Dustin Britt, Chick-fil-A’s executive director of brand strategy, entertainment and media.
Chick-fil-A is the third-biggest U.S. restaurant chain by sales, trailing only Starbucks and McDonald’s, and growing rapidly.

A sign hangs outside of a Chick-fil-A restaurant on May 06, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. 
Scott Olson | Getty Images

Chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, milkshakes – and now TV shows and podcasts?
Chick-fil-A plans to launch a new app on Nov. 18, with a slate of original animated shows, scripted podcasts, games, recipes and e-books aimed at families.

While it’s an unusual move for a restaurant company to wade into the crowded media world, Chick-fil-A has been expanding outside of food for years already — with the ultimate goal of directing more people to its over 3,000 restaurants. Since 2019, Chick-fil-A has held the spot of the third-biggest U.S. restaurant chain by sales, trailing only Starbucks and McDonald’s, with many fewer locations than either. Last year, its revenue reached $7.89 billion, according to franchisee disclosure documents.
As it tries to drive more restaurant sales, the company has sold branded merchandise, like a sleeping bag that resembles its chicken sandwich’s packaging, and created a spinoff brand called Pennycake, which offers family-friendly games and puzzles. And for the last five years, it’s released animated shorts on YouTube during the holiday season as part of its “Stories of Evergreen Hills” series.
“We’ve been paying attention to some research and conversations we’ve had with families that are our customers, and insights bubbled up that content and games are both adjacent to mealtime,” said Dustin Britt, Chick-fil-A’s executive director of brand strategy, entertainment and media.
“Our belief is, as we add value to their experience, then we’re giving them a reason to want to enjoy more Chick-fil-A with us,” he added.
A preview of the app viewed by CNBC included the first 22-minute episode of “Legends of Evergreen Hills,” which continues protagonist Sam’s adventures in the fantasy world of Evergreen Hills; the first installment of “Hidden Island,” a scripted podcast about a family that shipwrecks on a deserted island; and a step-by-step cooking tutorial that uses a Chick-fil-A milkshake as a key ingredient.

Customers can pre-download the free Chick-fil-A Play app for their iPhones, iPads and Android devices ahead of the launch next month.

Why Chick-fil-A is betting on content

People walk past a Chick-fil-A restaurant on 8th Avenue on December 30, 2023, in New York City. 
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images

Chick-fil-A decided to create the app following years of discussions with customers and as consumer behavior shifts away from prolonged visits to its restaurants.
While many of Chick-fil-A’s customers still enjoy its in-restaurant playgrounds, more of its customers are now using its drive-thru lanes and ordering delivery, according to Khalilah Cooper, Chick-fil-A’s vice president of brand strategy, advertising and media. Rival McDonald’s has slowly been erasing its PlayPlaces, a change likely resulting from fewer children using the playgrounds, concerns about health and safety, and a shift away from marketing to children.
“We’re looking at this app as a way to have a digital playground for the entire family to enjoy, whether they’re in our restaurants, in the drive-thru, driving to soccer practice or even relaxing at home,” Cooper told CNBC. “We want it to be an extension of our in-restaurant signature hospitality and generosity.”
The content on the app focuses on themes like generosity, friendship, problem-solving, creativity and entrepreneurship, according to Cooper. Chick-fil-A designed the app’s content to appeal to children 12 years old and under and their parents.
After the initial launch, new episodes of “Legends of Evergreen Hills” will release weekly through the holidays; “Hidden Island” will follow a similar drop schedule. Next year, the Play app will launch “Ice Lions,” another scripted audio series based on the true story of Kenyan teenagers who want to form the country’s first ice hockey team.
Most of the content that will be available on the app was created with outside partners led by Chick-fil-A’s internal team, but some of it was licensed. The company didn’t disclose the names of its external partners.
“We’re constantly thinking about what additional elements we can add into the app over time,” Cooper said.
In August, media publication Deadline reported that Chick-fil-A has been working with outside production companies for content, including unscripted shows, like a family-friendly game show.
“I’ll say that we’re exploring a variety of different types of content, and everything right now is a potential opportunity for us. We’re going to keep learning and exploring and figuring out what things work,” Britt said.

Restaurants as media brands

A Chick-fil-A meal is displayed at a Chick-fil-A restaurant on June 01, 2023 in Novato, California. 
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

As legacy media players like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have found out, making content is expensive and attracting viewers is difficult, given the glut of available options on streaming services.
For brands like Chick-fil-A, the calculus is a bit different. Rather than using content to make money from subscriptions or advertisements, they’re looking to sell more of their own products. That’s been the case since Procter & Gamble first sponsored daytime radio shows to sell its soap – creating the soap opera.
“There’s a lot of content creation that happens from media houses for brands, and I think that brands want to tap into that because it feels more authentic. It feels more like content and not an ad,” said Stephani Estes, chief media officer for Goodway Group, a digital marketing agency.
More recent entrants include Starbucks, which announced this summer that it will create original content through a partnership with Sugar23. And in January, Chuck E. Cheese said it’s working with “Top Chef” producer Magical Elves to create its own game show.
“I think the biggest question I would have, as a marketing professional, is what is the business problem that you’re trying to solve? And is the dollar invested in that content creation or particular initiative going to pay out more than spending that dollar somewhere else in the marketing funnel?” Estes said.
For Chick-fil-A, the branded content gives it a way to connect with kids – without the same stink as advertising directly to them – and foster goodwill toward the brand from their parents.
And unlike Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, Chick-fil-A has some flexibility to figure out if the investment is working. As a family-owned company, it isn’t beholden to shareholders who might push back against an expensive marketing endeavor.
Chick-fil-A also has cash to burn, especially given its meteoric growth over the last decade. From 2018 to 2023, its systemwide sales nearly doubled. Last year, it raked in net earnings of $1.07 billion. Chair Dan Cathy, who served as CEO from 2013 to 2021 and is father to current CEO Andrew Cathy, has a net worth of $10.6 billion, according to Forbes estimates.
Coincidentally, Dan Cathy owns Atlanta-based Trilith Studios, whose stages have acted as sets for many Marvel movies and TV shows, plus Francis Ford Coppola’s 2024 mega-flop “Megalopolis.” Tax breaks and cheap labor have helped Atlanta become the “Hollywood of the South” over the last decade. Cathy has previously drawn criticism for remarks he made in 2012 opposing same-sex marriage, and the company’s foundation donated to anti-LGBTQ groups during his time as chief executive.
Dan Cathy was not directly involved in the development of the Play app or making decisions related to the content, according to Cooper. Chick-fil-A also hasn’t worked with his studio – yet.
“We’ve not currently done any work directly with Trilith to date, but that’s something that we continue to explore, where it makes the most sense for both our businesses and brands,” she said.

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A deal-hunting mindset, volatile weather and election distraction will influence shoppers’ purchases this holiday season.
Holiday spending in November and December is expected to increase by 2.5% to 3.5% compared with 2023 and range between $979.5 billion and $989 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.
According to a survey by Deloitte, consumers plan to spend more on decorations and experiences than they did during the 2023 holiday season, but slightly less on gifts.

A Macy’s store is seen at Herald Square on December 11, 2023 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

Inflation may have cooled, but retailers are still staring down a holiday season with plenty of uncertainty.
Several hard-to-predict factors will influence consumers’ spending, as they deck the halls and look for the perfect gifts. Volatile weather, election distraction and a deal-hunting mindset may shape the season. And fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas than last year will put shoppers on the clock.

Yet there’s reason for optimism for retailers: Shoppers are feeling more upbeat and plan to spend more compared with last holiday season, according to an annual survey by consulting firm Deloitte and a separate forecast by the National Retail Federation.
Holiday spending in November and December is expected to increase by 2.5% to 3.5% compared with 2023 and range between $979.5 billion and $989 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. That’s a more modest increase than the 3.9% year-over-year jump from the 2022 to 2023 holiday season, when spending totaled $955.6 billion. The NRF’s figure excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.
Shoppers expect to spend an average of $1,778 on the holidays this year, 8% more than last holiday season, according to consulting firm Deloitte’s survey. The survey, which included about 4,000 consumers and was conducted in late August and early September, attributed that spending increase to a more favorable economic outlook, a perception among respondents that prices would be higher and more willingness to spend among higher-earning households with an annual income of between $100,000 and $199,000.
Low unemployment, a return to more typical inflation levels and a recent Federal Reserve interest rate cut are lifting consumers’ spirits, said Stephen Rogers, managing director of Deloitte’s Consumer Industry Center.
“People are still in a better frame of mind, despite the political chatter,” he said. “When they look at their bank account and think about what their financial situation is, they feel better.”

People shop (L) ahead of Black Friday at a Walmart Supercenter on November 14, 2023 in Burbank, California. 
Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Deal-hunting mentality

Weeks before trick-or-treating, shoppers got a taste of their first holiday deals.
Those early offers set the stage for a season when shoppers are expected to seek out more ways to stretch the budget after costs of living climbed for years.
Nearly 80% of shoppers surveyed by Deloitte said they would participate in deals events in October and November, up from 61% last year.
“Our deal seeking muscle has been really exercised the past two years and we are just going to continue to exercise it,” Rogers said.
NRF CEO Matt Shay echoed that prediction. On a call with reporters this week, he said the retail trade group expects a more promotional environment this holiday season, with deals across more brands and categories than a year ago.
Another potential challenge for retailers? Catering to customers who are more focused on decorations and experiences than gifts. Consumers plan to spend 16% more year over year on experiences, but spend 3% less on gifts compared with the year-ago holiday period, according to Deloitte’s survey. Non-gift purchases, including spending on decor and party apparel, is also expected to jump 9% year over year.
The firm’s survey found that spending in retail categories would remain relatively flat with an average of $1,043 in 2024 compared with $1,020 in 2023. Consumers across income groups reported value-seeking habits, including less self-gifting, more trading down to affordable retailers and more seeking out private labels or “dupes” of pricier items.
That shift could hurt retailers that sell goods, unless they come up with compelling ways to tie their merchandise to experiences, such as suggesting hiking gear, Rogers said.
For Home Depot, which sells a wide range of holiday decor including Santa-themed throw pillows and a giant animated reindeer for yards, the high demand for decor could be an opportunity. Yet the home improvement retailer said it’s prepared for consumers to seek value, too.
This holiday season, Home Depot bought more low-priced artificial Christmas trees, such as a prelit tree that sells for $49, said Lance Allen, senior merchant of decorative holiday for the home improvement retailer.

Signs showing support for both Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump sit along a rural highway on September 26, 2024 near Traverse City, Michigan. 
Scott Olson | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Election uncertainty

As Americans await results of the presidential election, will they also shop for the holidays?
That’s a question on the minds of retailers and consumer brands, including Walmart and SharkNinja, that are hoping shoppers will browse and buy rather than become glued to the news. The election is on Nov. 5, and it could take days for a winner to be called if the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump ends up as close as polls suggest.
SharkNinja CEO Mark Barrocas described the election as the “biggest unknown” that will shape the holiday season.
“It may be a blip and it may be nothing, and it may disrupt things for a few weeks if the news cycle is all-consuming,” he said. “Christmas is going to come and there will be a holiday season. It’s just a matter of how many distractions there are.”
He said the election and the news cycle around it may also influence how consumers feel about the economy.
Walmart’s internal research suggests “an uptick in positivity” as its shoppers enjoy the fall and get ready for Halloween, said Jen Acerra, vice president of customer insights and strategy at Walmart.
“The one thing that is still out there and moving is what’s going to happen with the election, and what happens with the election will really determine if this is something that stays positive or not,” she said.
Already, some companies have blamed the election for taking a bite out of their sales. Amazon chalked up a weak forecast in August to election distraction that would dampen demand for online shopping, a comment some mocked as an excuse.
Delta Air Lines’ CEO, Ed Bastian, said in a CNBC interview this month that the company expects lower demand before and after the election to hit the carrier’s revenue.
“Consumers will, I think, take a little bit of pause in making investment decisions, whether it’s discretionary or other things,” he said. “I think you’re going to hear other industries talking about that as well.”

After Hurricane Milton hit Florida, the city of Clearwater was flooded. Search and rescue operations are ongoing in the area. 
Lokman Vural Elibol | Anadolu | Getty Images

Hurricane damage and winter temperatures

For retailers, cooler and wintery weather is always on the Christmas wish list.
Weather can tip shoppers into the holiday spirit and get them in the mood to buy thicker sweaters, coats and gifts, said Evan Gold, executive vice president for Planalytics, a Philadelphia-based company that advises retailers on weather-related inventory planning.
“There’s no external factor that influences consumers’ purchases as directly, frequently and immediately as the weather,” he said.
This year, the early fall got off to a rockier start. The now unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season marked by October sales events coincided with unseasonably warm temperatures in San Francisco and other parts of the country, and severe hurricanes that battered North Carolina and Florida. That makes shoppers less likely to want to buy sweaters, coats and artificial trees.
Yet the weather this year should eventually help retailers, Gold said, since November and December temperatures are expected to be colder than a year ago. He said the shift in weather, such as a dusting of snow or a cold snap, can help signal shoppers to get ready for the season.
Many families will just be trying to rebuild from hurricane damage rather than buying holiday gifts, which could redirect money to furniture, clothes or home repairs, Jack Kleinhenz, the NRF’s chief economist, said on a call with reporters.
“It’ll be just an adjustment in their budget in what they’ll be spending for, but it’s really too early to know the full impact on retail,” he said.
Home Depot expects that, too. It pulled holiday product out of 124 of its big-box stores to make room for items that hard-hit areas need, such as shingles and drywall, Allen said. Instead, he said, it plans to sell a more limited assortment in those stores of items such as wreaths and its top-selling trees.
“They’re trying to rebuild and recover their houses,” he said. “So obviously, they’re not going to go buy a nine-foot reindeer and put that out there.”

A shorter holiday season

Thanks to the calendar, the holiday rush may be on overdrive.
Shoppers will have five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year compared with last year — which could dampen spending or potentially motivate time-pressured shoppers to seek out rush shipping, curbside pickup or other quicker options to get gifts.
The pressure will be on retailers to make the most of each day and to deliver on convenience, as shoppers race to get what they need and expect items to arrive within a few hours or at minimum, within a few days, said the NRF’s Shay.
“A shorter period does have consequences and implications and one of those, of course, is that the shipping season will be shorter,” he said.
On a recent store tour, Kohl’s Chief Marketing Officer Christie Raymond said the retailer expects it will have to work harder to woo customers, especially lower- and middle-income shoppers, who have felt pinched by the cumulative effect of inflation and crunched for time.
“We think they’re feeling more squeezed than last year,” Raymond said. And, she added, shoppers have also said they are “feeling time-squeezed.”
To appeal to those consumers, Kohl’s wants to have more of what they need, Chief Merchandising and Digital Officer Nick Jones said.
The retailer has bulked up its offering of gift items, added more party dresses and started to sell a wider range of decorations, including Christmas trees, lawn ornaments and wrapping paper.
“We want to be a holiday destination,” he said. “We haven’t got the food, but we’ve got everything else.” More

Health care in the U.S. has become increasingly costly and complex for Americans to navigate, making it among several issues at the forefront of the presidential election. 
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are both pledging to make health care more affordable in the U.S., but they have largely different approaches to doing so if elected.
Each candidate’s track record provides a glimpse of what drug costs, health care and reproductive rights could look like over the next several years. 

President Donald Trump talks to the press outside the White House, July 19, 2019, left, and Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to mark the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, at the vice president’s residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, Oct. 7, 2024.
Getty Images (L) | Reuters (R)

Prescription drug costs. Abortion rights. The future of Obamacare. 
The fast-approaching presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump could lead to a huge range of outcomes for patients on those issues and others in the sprawling U.S. health system.

Both candidates are pledging to make care more affordable in the U.S., an outlier in the developed world due to its higher health-care spending, worse patient outcomes and barriers to access. But the candidates appear to have different approaches to doing so if elected. 
The candidates have not yet released detailed proposals on health policy, which ranks slightly lower than other issues at the top of voters’ minds, such as the economy. But each candidate’s track record provides a glimpse of what drug costs, health care and reproductive rights could look like over the next several years. 
“A Trump administration will try to slash federal health spending to pay for tax cuts and reduce the role of the federal government in health,” Drew Altman, CEO and president of health policy research organization KFF, told CNBC. He said a Harris administration “will build on existing programs, increasing federal spending to make health care more affordable for people.”
It wouldn’t be easy for either administration to make sweeping changes: The U.S. has a complicated and entrenched health-care system of doctors, insurers, drug manufacturers and other middlemen, which costs the nation more than $4 trillion a year. Any overhaul of the U.S. health-care system would also depend on which party controls Congress, and on the policies state lawmakers pass.
Despite spending more on health care than any other high-income country, the U.S. has the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest rate of people with multiple chronic diseases and the highest maternal and infant death rate among those nations, according to a 2023 report published by The Commonwealth Fund, an independent research group.

Around half of American adults say it is difficult to afford health care, which can drive some patients into debt or lead them to put off necessary care, according to a May poll conducted by KFF. 
Here’s how Harris and Trump differ in their approaches to key health-care issues. 

Prescription drug costs 

Both candidates have pledged to lower prescription drug costs in the U.S. as many Americans struggle to afford treatments. The nation’s medication costs are nearly three times higher than those in other countries, according to the nonprofit research firm RAND. 
About 1 in 5 adults say they have not filled a prescription in the last year because of the cost, while roughly 1 in 10 say they have cut pills in half or skipped doses, according to the March KFF survey.

Activists protest the price of prescription drug costs in front of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, 2022.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images

Many of Trump’s efforts to rein in drug prices have either been temporary or not immediately effective, according to some health policy experts. On the campaign trail, the former president has also provided few specifics about his plans for lowering those costs. 
Some of Harris’ proposals are not fully fleshed out, but if elected she can build on the Biden administration’s efforts to save patients more money, experts said. 
Harris plans to expand certain provisions of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, part of which aims to lower health-care costs for seniors enrolled in Medicare. In 2022, she cast the tie-breaking Senate vote to pass the legislation. 
Harris’ campaign says she intends to extend two provisions to all Americans, not just older adults in Medicare: a $35 limit on monthly insulin costs and a $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket drug spending. 
She also plans to expand and speed up the pace of Medicare drug price negotiations with manufacturers to cover more expensive drugs. The landmark policy, passed as part of the IRA, has faced fierce opposition from the pharmaceutical industry, as some companies have challenged its constitutionality in court. 
Trump has not indicated what he intends to do about IRA provisions.
Many Republicans have been vocal critics of the drug pricing negotiations, claiming they harm innovation and will lead to fewer cures, according to Dr. Mariana Socal, a health policy professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Trump made a similar argument in 2020 when he opposed a separate Democratic bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. 
Still, Socal said a Trump administration wouldn’t have much flexibility to dismantle or scale back the law without change from Congress.
Some of Trump’s efforts to lower drug prices during his presidency “didn’t really come into fruition,” Socal added. 
In 2020, he signed an executive order to ensure Medicare didn’t pay more than the lowest price that select other developed countries pay for drugs. But the Biden administration ultimately rescinded that policy following a court order that blocked it. 
The Trump campaign this month said the former president would not try to renew the plan if reelected.
Also in 2020, Trump issued a rule setting up a path to import prescription drugs from Canada, where medication prices are 44% of those in the U.S. But it took years for the measure to gain momentum. The Biden administration only in January approved Florida’s plan to import some prescription treatments from Canada. 
Trump also set a $35-per-month cap on some insulin products for seniors through a temporary program that Medicare prescription drug plans, also known as Part D plans, could choose to join. The program was in effect from 2021 to 2023, and less than half of all Part D plans opted to participate each year, according to KFF. 
But that measure was much more limited than the Biden administration’s insulin price cap, which requires all Part D plans to charge no more than $35 per month for all covered insulin products. It also limits cost-sharing for insulin covered by Medicare Part B plans. 
Both administrations would likely continue to scrutinize pharmacy benefit managers, the drug supply chain middlemen who negotiate rebates with manufacturers on behalf of insurance plans, according to Dr. Stephen Patrick, chair of the health policy and management department at Emory University.
Lawmakers and the Biden administration have recently ramped up pressure on PBMs, accusing them of raking in profits while inflating prescription medication prices and harming U.S. patients and pharmacies. 

Health-care coverage

Health-care coverage is a critical and, in some cases, life-or-death issue for many Americans. Harris and Trump would take different approaches to it.
Harris in her 2020 presidential primary run supported a version of a “Medicare for All” bill, which would put all Americans in Medicare and effectively eliminate private insurance. Her campaign has since indicated she would not back the program as president.
But Harris has supported the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, since she was a senator, consistently voting against bills to repeal the plan and reasserting her commitment to strengthen it during the presidential debate on Sept. 10.
The ACA was designed to extend health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and implement reforms to the insurance market. The law expanded Medicaid eligibility, mandated that Americans purchase or otherwise obtain health insurance, and prohibited insurance companies from denying coverage due to preexisting conditions, among other provisions.
The IRA extended enhanced subsidies that made ACA health plans more affordable for millions of households through 2025 — a provision Harris plans to make permanent if elected, her campaign said. 
Harris may also work with Congress to try to extend Medicaid coverage in the 10 states that haven’t expanded it under the ACA, some experts said. Medicaid provides coverage for 81 million people, or more than 1 in 5 Americans, according to KFF.
The program is the largest source of federal funding to states. It covers low-income patients and families, as well as those with complex and costly needs, such as people with disabilities and individuals experiencing homelessness.
But if Republicans control even one branch of Congress, boosting Medicaid coverage will “be much tougher, if not impossible to do,” KFF’s Altman said.
Democrats face a difficult path to retaining their slim Senate majority, while Republicans are trying to cling to narrow control of the House.

Vice President Kamala Harris greets guests after speaking at an event celebrating the 13th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., March 23, 2023.
Nathan Posner | Anadolu | Getty Images

Meanwhile, Trump led multiple failed crusades to repeal the ACA during his first term. In a campaign video in April, Trump said he was not running on terminating the law and would rather make it “much, much better and far less money,” though he has provided no specific plans. Many Republicans have abandoned their promises to repeal the law after it grew more popular in recent years.
During the Sept. 10 debate, Trump reiterated his belief that the ACA was “lousy health care.” But he did not offer a replacement for the law when asked, saying only that he has “concepts of a plan.” 
KFF noted that Trump’s previous replacement proposals would have made the ACA less expensive for the federal government but raise out-of-pocket premiums for patients, lead to more uninsured Americans and increase risks for states. 
A Trump administration would likely have major implications for Medicaid, Altman said.
Notably, Trump has said he would not cut spending for Medicare and Social Security. But that makes Medicaid, which costs the federal government more than $600 billion a year, a target for severe cuts, Altman noted.
He said Trump could make fundamental changes to the program to curtail enrollment, such as lifetime limits on how many years people can get Medicaid coverage. 

A rally against Medicaid cuts in front of the U.S. Capitol on June 6, 2017.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Trump could also revisit some of his earlier attempts to reduce spending on Medicaid. As president, he approved eligibility restrictions such as work requirements, and proposed changing the way the federal government gives money to states for Medicaid into a “block grant” program. 
That refers to the government providing states with a fixed amount of money to administer and provide Medicaid services in exchange for more flexibility and less oversight.
The Biden administration withdrew some of those restrictions and encouraged waivers that would expand Medicaid coverage and reduce health disparities, which Harris would likely pursue if elected, experts said.
A Democratic House or Senate would likely block any of Trump’s sweeping changes to Medicaid, according to Altman. 
“My theory is that if the Democrats hold even one house in Congress, all of that will fail,” he said. “There’ll be a big debate, but it will fail. Medicaid is too big.”

Reproductive rights

Abortion is a pivotal issue that could drive many voters’ decisions in this election. The number of voters in swing states who name abortion as their top election issue has grown since the spring, according to a late August poll by The New York Times and Siena College. 
This is the first presidential election held since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion in the U.S. in 1973.
Abortion access in the U.S. has been in a state of flux in the roughly two years since the court’s decision, which has given conservative governors and legislatures the power to limit the procedure in their states. As of last year, more than 25 million women ages 15 to 44 lived in states where there are more restrictions on abortion than before the court’s ruling in 2022, PBS reported.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about Florida’s new 6-week abortion ban during an event at the Prime Osborn Convention Center in Jacksonville, Florida, May 1, 2024.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

The future of abortion rights could look starkly different depending on which candidate holds office, according to Stacey Lee, professor of health law and ethics at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. That leaves the reproductive well-being of many women, especially lower-income people and people of color, hanging in the balance.
Harris has long been a staunch advocate of abortion access and has seized the opportunity to highlight what some health policy experts and voters consider the extreme and often inconsistent views of Trump and the broader Republican Party. 
She has blamed Trump, who appointed three members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and urged Congress to pass a national law codifying abortion rights. Democrats have not had enough votes in Congress to pass such protections under Biden.
Last month, Harris also said she supports eliminating the filibuster in the U.S. Senate to restore federal abortion protections as they existed under Roe v. Wade. The filibuster rule requires a 60-vote threshold for most legislation to pass, which makes it difficult for lawmakers to approve bills in a closely divided Senate.
Harris has also “been a firm proponent” of defending the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, Lee said. Anti-abortion physicians squared off with the Food and Drug Administration in 2023 in an unprecedented legal battle over the agency’s more than two-decade-old approval of the medication. 
In June, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the challenge to mifepristone and sided with the Biden administration, meaning the commonly used medication could remain widely available. The administration’s FDA also revised restrictions on medication abortion, allowing certain certified retail pharmacies to dispense the pills. 
Meanwhile, Trump vaguely suggested in August that he would not rule out directing the FDA to revoke access to mifepristone. Just days later, his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio, attempted to walk back those remarks. 
Trump’s comments appear to be a shift from his stance in June, when the former president said during a CNN debate that he “will not block” access to mifepristone.
During his time in office, Trump introduced several anti-abortion measures. That includes a “gag rule” that would have made clinics, such as Planned Parenthood, ineligible for federal health funds if they provided abortions or referrals for them. 
Vance this month also said a future Trump administration would defund Planned Parenthood.
But Trump has also waffled over the last few years on abortion policy, appearing to soften his stance on the issue to appeal to more moderate and independent voters.
He takes credit for Roe v. Wade’s demise since he reshaped the court, and his latest stance is that abortion policy should be set by the states. Earlier this year, however, Trump lamented that certain state laws go “too far.”
During a radio interview in March, Trump said he would consider a national ban on abortions around 15 weeks of pregnancy. 
But earlier this month, he said he would not support a federal abortion ban, writing in a post on X he would veto one. He added that he supports exceptions in cases of rape and incest and to save the life of a pregnant woman.
“It is difficult to find consistency within his policies, but that lack of consistency should amplify that perhaps anything is possible in terms of a more restrictive stance to abortion and reproductive rights,” Lee said. 

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the 47th annual anti-abortion “March for Life” in Washington, D.C., Jan. 24, 2020.
Nicholas Kamm | Afp | Getty Images

Meanwhile, both Harris and Trump have recently expressed their support for in vitro fertilization, a type of fertility treatment performed outside of the body in a lab. It accounts for roughly 2% of births in the U.S. but is extremely costly for many low- and middle-income people who need the technology to start families. 
It became a campaign issue after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos created during the IVF process could be considered children, which threatened the availability of those services in the state. 
Trump has called for the government or private insurers to pay for IVF treatment. Harris has said she would defend the right to both IVF and contraception, but has not specified how she would do so. More