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April 2025

ROUNDUP: Republicans Charge Ahead to Gut Medicaid and Throw Millions Off Their Health Care to Give Tax Breaks to Billionaires 

Yesterday, House Republicans voted to move forward with their budget which includes $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, such a drastic proposal will lead to the largest cuts in Medicaid history and rip health care away from millions of seniors in nursing homes, children, veterans, working families, and more. Now that Congressional Republicans have approved Medicaid cuts once again, they will begin discussions on how they plan to slash the program and millions of Americans’ health care. 

Following their devastating vote, Republicans have been lying to the American people. On camera and in public, they promise never to cut Medicaid, insisting they’re just targeting “waste.” But behind closed doors, they’re deciding who to throw off health care – grandma’s in nursing homes, cancer patients, children and adults with disabilities, or hardworking families in rural communities. It’s cruel, calculated, and dishonest. 

New York Times: Republicans Clash Over Medicaid in Hunt to Pay for Trump’s Agenda 

  • “Republican leaders have insisted that they have no plans to cut Medicaid, and Mr. Johnson said that Mr. Trump would not endorse cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits. “We’re going to protect the benefits that everyone is legally entitled to,” Mr. Johnson said. But it will be nearly impossible for Republicans to get to $1.5 trillion in spending cuts without touching Medicaid. Though Mr. Johnson suggested the party would consider imposing work requirements and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse, those changes would almost certainly not be enough to reach their target.’”

The Hill: All eyes on Medicaid 

  • “Until now, the discussions have involved theoretical numbers, with lawmakers avoiding any specifics about Medicaid. They’ve waved vaguely at the idea of cutting “waste fraud and abuse” without diving into just how big the cuts will be and who will be impacted. That’s all likely going to change.”

 Axios: House clears budget hurdle with Medicaid fight ahead

  • “Between the lines: There is tension between the goal of hitting $1.5 trillion in cuts with the pledge to also not harm any Medicaid benefits. ‘Senate Republicans passed the budget resolution on a promise of fewer cuts to Medicaid,” Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden wrote on X. “House Republicans are set to pass it on a promise of deep cuts to the tune of $1.5 trillion dollars. Both things cannot be true.’”

New York Times: Chip Roy Says Promise of Deep Entitlement Cuts Won His Vote

  • “Mr. Roy ended up being one of more than a dozen G.O.P. holdouts who ultimately supported the resolution on Thursday. Not long afterward, he explained his turnabout. He said he had “reluctantly voted” for the measure only after President Trump and his party’s House and Senate leaders had promised privately that they would embrace far more spending reductions, specifically deep cuts to entitlement programs including Medicaid and the elimination of clean energy tax credits.”

Punchbowl News: House Republicans’ next headache: The Medicaid fight

  • “There would be intense pressure from House Freedom Caucus members and other deficit hawks to draft a reconciliation package that meets the House’s spending cut instructions. That would mean $880 billion in cuts from the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s jurisdiction – the vast majority of which would need to come from Medicaid.” 

The Hill: House GOP adopts Trump budget blueprint after last-minute scramble 

  • “The adopted budget resolution directs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to find at least $880 billion in spending cuts, which many moderates worry will require deep slashes to Medicaid — a nonstarter for them. The comments on Thursday about finding at least $1.5 trillion in cuts appeared to exacerbate those concerns.”

Business Insider: Republicans Pass Trump-Backed Tax Plan That Could Drastically Cut Medicaid

  • Johnson and GOP leaders have repeatedly stressed that their bill does not explicitly cut Medicaid, a healthcare program for millions of disabled and low-income Americans. However, Medicaid will likely get cut by or near $880 billion over a decade, as Medicaid and Medicare, which Trump has pledged not to cut, comprise most of the committee’s budget. The federal government picks up the bulk of the tab for Medicaid spending. As of 2023, the federal share was about 72%.

Medicare Rights Center: House Adopts Senate Budget Plan, Laying the Groundwork for Significant Health Care Cuts

  • [Republicans] are reportedly considering damaging policies like eligibility restrictions, funding rollbacks, and access barriers. Other vital programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), are also at risk, and Medicare could also be in play.”
  • [A]ny cut to Medicaid is a cut to Medicare. Over 12 million people with Medicare also have health coverage through Medicaid, which pays for necessary services that Medicare does not. It is the primary payor for long-term services and supports for people who need home- and community-based services and nursing home care, and it also plays a vital role in helping support family caregivers.”
  • “According to recent analysis, by 2060, 23% of the population will be 65 or older (up from 15% in 2016), and 19 million Americans will be 85 or older (a 198% increase from 2016).”

Mountain State Spotlight: West Virginia’s Republicans Said They Wouldn’t Cut Medicaid. Then They Voted to Cut Medicaid.

  • “In early March, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito looked into the camera and told anyone watching that she wouldn’t kick any West Virginians off Medicaid… Sen. Jim Justice told Axios last month that he had concerns about cuts to Medicaid, which serves nearly 30% of the state’s population. Last weekend, Capito and Justice voted to move along a budget plan that would require $880 billion in cuts over the next decade, largely to Medicaid. When offered an amendment to prevent those cuts, the two Republicans voted with their party against it. Had they switched their votes, it could’ve stopped the cuts.”
  • West Virginia could lose over half a billion federal dollars under this proposal, according to one analysis released last month. On a per capita basis, the state would have the largest cut in the nation. And state Republicans have already shown they’re ready to throw thousands off Medicaid if Congress cuts the program.”

The Gothamist: Half of NYC is on Medicaid. Here’s What To Know About the Fight in Congress.

  • New Yorkers have a lot on the line as the Republican-controlled Congress considers cuts to Medicaid that potentially total $880 billion over the course of the next decade, according to health care officials, lawmakers and policy experts… About half of the 8 million residents in the five boroughs are covered through the [Medicaid] program, which pays for their doctor’s visits, hospital stays, and addiction and mental health treatment. It also pays for most long-term care for elderly and disabled residents, which is generally not covered by other forms of insurance… Statewide, traditional Medicaid covers about 7 million New Yorkers, while [Medicaid Expansion] covers another 1.6 million.”
  • “If $880 billion in cuts were implemented evenly over a decade and applied proportionally to each state, New York would lose about $10 billion a year, or $400 per resident, according to one KFF analysis. If New York wanted to preserve Medicaid coverage, KFF determined, the state could offset the losses by raising taxes 7%. Or it could opt to cut education spending by $14,200 per student.”

Newsweek: What Republican Budget That Passed House Means for Medicare, SNAP

  • “The scope of the proposed committee-level cuts would represent one of the largest rollbacks of public benefit programs in recent memory. The combined reduction in Medicaid and SNAP could total more than $1.1 trillion over the next decade, leading to the loss of more than 1 million jobs and a $113 billion hit to state economies by 2026, according to a comprehensive analysis by the Commonwealth Fund.”

Modern Healthcare: U.S. House Speaker’s District Relies on Medicaid – He’s Pushing for Cuts

  • “Of the eight GOP-held House districts with the most Medicaid enrollees due to the expansion, four are in Louisiana. Johnson’s largely rural district ranks sixth in expansion enrollees. Among them is Chloe Stovall, 23, who works in the produce aisle at the SuperValu grocery store in Vivian, Louisiana. She said her take-home wage working full time is $200 a week. She doesn’t own a car and walks a mile to work…“I’m just barely surviving,” she said.”
  • “Desoto CEO Todd Eppler said Medicaid cuts could make it harder for his hospital to repay the loans and for patients to access care. ‘I just hope that the people who are making these decisions have thought deeply about it and have some context of the real-world implications,’ he said, ‘because it’s going to affect us as a hospital and going to affect our patients.’”

Talking Points Memo: House GOP Hardliners Cave, Unlocking Process to Make Sweeping Medicaid Cuts

  • Johnson said Republicans are ‘committed to finding at least $1.5 trillion in savings for the American people while also preserving our essential programs,’ adding that they will ‘aim much higher’ than just the $1.5 trillion. Johnson indicated Medicaid is one of those ’essential programs’ that will be preserved, but major Medicaid cuts are baked into the budget resolution’s requirements.”

Daily Kos: House GOP Passes Budget That Guts Medicaid to Give Tax Cuts to the Rich

  • “Until now, Republicans lied by saying that their budget wouldn’t slash Medicaid and food stamps—something they could do because the budget only included topline numbers each committee was instructed to cut. But now GOP lawmakers will have to actually put pen to paper and lay out the specific cuts they will make.”

New Republic: Mike Johnson Reveals His Disastrous Plans for Medicaid

  • ‘What we’ve talked about is returning work requirements, so for example you don’t have able-bodied young men on a program that’s designed for single mothers and the elderly and disabled.’ [said Speaker Johnson]… But Republican proposals to introduce a work requirement to Medicaid have thus far asked recipients to navigate work-reporting and verification systems on a monthly basis—a detail that would require significant federal funding. The plans would also negate coverage for individuals who find themselves temporarily unemployed, such as those who were recently fired or laid off. A February report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that introducing work requirements to the insurance program could strip upward of 36 million Americans of their health coverage—half of Medicaid’s 72 million enrollees.”

East County Magazine: House GOP Approves Economic Attack on the Poor to Fund ‘Big Payout’ for Billionaires

  • “In a party-line vote, House Republicans on Thursday approved a budget blueprint that sets the stage for the GOP to pass another round of tax cuts for the rich, paid for in part by slashing Medicaid, federal nutrition assistance, and other critical programs.”
  • “Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said in a statement that ‘in this budget framework, there is no way to cut $1.5 trillion in spending while protecting health coverage through Medicaid and food assistance through [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program].'”

STATEMENT: Following House Vote to Slash Medicaid, House Republicans Double Down on Gutless Lies to the American People

Washington, D.C. – After voting to slash nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations, Republicans in Congress have doubled down on lies about their budget resolution. The Congressional Budget Office has exposed the truth, proving that GOP budget goals can not be reached without cutting Medicaid. Multiple polls, including one from Trump’s own pollster, have found Americans are opposed to any cuts to Medicaid. But make no mistake: Republicans are gaslighting the American people to try and avoid the backlash they know would follow. 

In response, Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse issued the following statement:

“Republicans are gutless liars, trying to pull the wool over the eyes of their constituents. The so-called moderates have refused to stand up to Donald Trump on behalf of their constituents, leaving them high and dry. Instead, they have chosen to gaslight the American people, saying the cuts will only root out waste, fraud, and abuse, but we know the truth. There is no way to cut $880 billion from Medicaid without throwing millions of people off their health care. This means seniors will be thrown out of nursing homes, kids with disabilities won’t get the support they need, patients fighting cancer won’t be able to afford their treatment – the list goes on and on. When it comes to this budget vote, the only fraud I see is the Republican lawmakers trying to take life-saving health care away from their constituents in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.”

Background

The Republican Budget Takes Health Care Away From Working People, Seniors, Veterans, And Children To Give Tax Breaks To The Rich. As the Georgetown Center for Children and Families found, Republicans’ math does not add up. The CBO confirmed that Republicans cannot make their proposed $880 billion in cuts without drastically cutting Medicaid and throwing millions of hardworking families off their coverage, closing rural hospitals, and kicking seniors out of nursing homes. 

FACT CHECK: The House Budget Resolution Orders Nearly $1 Trillion In Targeted Cuts – Nearly All of Which Are “Expected To Come From Medicaid.” As KFF reported, “The House Energy & Commerce Committee (which has jurisdiction over Medicaid) is instructed to reduce the federal deficit by at least $880 billion over 10 years, with nearly all those cuts expected to come from Medicaid.”

Read some of the most egregious lies: 

Ken Calvert (CA-41) released a statement denying that the cuts will impact Medicaid:  “Let me be crystal clear – nothing approved by the House today changes any benefits for our safety net programs, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans’ benefits.”

Rob Bresnahan (PA-08) published a statement claiming it was a lie that the budget cuts would gut Medicaid: “I voted today, as I did in February, to continue working toward a final federal budget that delivers for the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania…As I have said countless times, like President Trump, I won’t support a budget that guts Medicaid, and I have made that clear to House Republican leadership. There will be plenty of fake news reports and fearmongering, claiming that today’s vote guts Medicaid, which is patently false. This is a narrative spun up by professional liars who profit off people’s fears instead of offering real solutions. Shame on those who perpetuate this lie and on those who choose to cover this lie as truth.” 

Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) claimed that the budget cuts will protect Medicaid: “This morning, I voted to pass the Budget Resolution. Let me be clear: the resolution did not make any funding cuts to specific programs. This was just the first step. Now, committees get to work determining the policy substance of the reconciliation package. This is how we secure SALT relief, protect Medicaid, and deliver on the promises made to the American people.”

Young Kim (CA-40) claimed the budget resolution is “Protecting & strengthening key programs like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, & veterans’ care,” and, “gets us one step closer to getting our country back on the right track for future generations.”

Nick LaLota (NY-01) released a statement claiming that he was committed to protecting Medicaid despite voting for budget cuts: “Before this morning’s vote, the Speaker privately assured a few of my colleagues and me that ongoing discussions with the HFC hadn’t changed his commitment to protecting Medicaid. I was glad to hear him reaffirm that commitment publicly after the vote as well.” He later claimed that “Medicaid reforms in the One Big Beautiful Bill will be compassionate: removing illegals, adding work requirements for able-bodied adults, and eligibility checks every 6 months.” 

Mike Lawler (NY-17) claimed back in February that people were “fear-mongering” about Medicaid cuts in the budget resolution: “And let’s clear something up: Some are fear-mongering about Medicaid cuts. Guess what? Medicaid isn’t even mentioned in this resolution. Not once.” Lawler voted for the resolution after promising his constituents in February and March that he would not vote to cut Medicaid. 

David Valadao (CA-22) missed the vote but released a statement in support of the budget resolution. He also baselessly claimed: “I’m happy to hear @SpeakerJohnson remains committed to ensuring our hardworking families have access to Medicaid. As the budget process moves forward, I’ll continue advocating to strengthen critical programs for my constituents in the Central Valley,” and declared, “I’ll only support a final reconciliation bill that strengthens Medicaid, SNAP, and other critical programs that our Valley families rely on.”

Dan Newhouse (WA-04) claimed the Medicaid cuts were delivering for the American people: “Passing the budget resolution unlocks the next step in the reconciliation process allowing Congress to reduce federal spending, lower inflation, and advance a conservative agenda to get our country back on track. It will be no easy task, but Republicans must stay unified to deliver for the American people.”

Black Maternal Health Week: Moms Face Worsening Health Crisis As Republicans Work to Slash Health Care and Dismantle Lifesaving Services

Every Mom Deserves The Highest Level of Maternal Health Care, But President Trump And Republicans In Congress Are Focused On Gutting Care To Hand Out Tax Breaks To Billionaires

April 11 through April 17 marks Black Maternal Health Week, a harrowing reminder that in the richest country in the world, mothers are not receiving the care they need. The United States has the highest rate of maternal deaths of any high-income country, and Black mothers face a maternal mortality rate more than twice the rates of other races and ethnicities. In recent years, public health officials and advocates have been sounding the alarm on the need to address the U.S.’s maternal health crisis. Instead of protecting new mothers and infants, Republicans seem determined to make matters worse by gutting Medicaid, which provides care to nearly two-thirds of Black moms, and slashing critical health programs that protect, support, and improve maternal health. As part of their extremist and regressive crusade to erase all equity efforts, Republicans are targeting public health programs that address the unique challenges faced by Black moms. Republicans must be held accountable for dismantling life-saving health programs and coverage for new moms in order to hand out tax breaks to the wealthy. 

In response, Protect Our Care Policy and Health Equity Senior Advisor Joi Chaney issued the following statement:

“Republicans claim to be the party of family values, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. As Black moms across the nation face a maternal mortality crisis that is heartbreaking and largely preventable, Republicans are actively dismantling programs that save the lives of mothers and babies. One thing is clear: the Republicans are more focused on rewarding the rich, even if it means trampling on the health of women and families.

Republicans Are Gutting Medicaid To Pay For More Tax Breaks For Corporations And The Ultrawealthy, Threatening Care For Nearly Two-Thirds Of Black Mothers. Thanks to Medicaid, hundreds of thousands of pregnant women across the country receive prenatal visits, ultrasounds, and screenings for conditions such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and postpartum depression. Republicans are pushing for hundreds of billions in indiscriminate cuts to the program to fund tax breaks for the wealthy, which would rip care away from millions of women and worsen Black maternal health outcomes. This could lead to more long-term health problems and lives lost for the 64 percent of Black mothers who use the program. Those aren’t family values worthy of the American people.

Republicans Are Endangering Access To Critical Postpartum Care. Medicaid is crucial for Black moms navigating postpartum recovery. Thanks to Democrats in Congress, states were given the option to extend coverage to new mothers for one year postpartum – 49 states, both red and blue, took advantage of it. With one in three pregnancy-related deaths occurring between six weeks and one year after birth, this extension is a vital policy in fighting the growing maternal mortality rate in the United States — but coverage could be at risk with GOP cuts.

Republicans Are Terminating Access To Lifesaving Procedures and Medications. Since a Trump-appointed conservative majority overtook the Supreme Court and reversed Roe v. Wade, nearly 60 percent of Black women now live in states that either currently have abortion restrictions or have plans to enact them. In 2024, Amber Thurman and Candi Miller became two of many women who tragically and unnecessarily lost their lives to abortion bans. Republican efforts to restrict access to abortion medications and procedures endanger the lives of Black women.

Republicans Are Shutting Down Research And Services That Improve Care For Black Moms. Republicans are taking a chainsaw to the federal health programs that keep moms safe and save lives. They have illegally fired thousands of staff, including those who keep the postpartum depression hotline running, those who research and collect crucial data on maternal mortality, and those who respond to safety concerns about infant formula. They have also shut down the offices of minority health at both HHS and CMS. 

The GOP Is Blocking Legislation That Will Save Countless Lives. Research shows that over 80 percent of maternal deaths are preventable. Yet, session after session, Republicans have refused to support the Momnibus Act — legislation that would provide millions in funding to address the root causes of America’s maternal mortality crisis and address social determinants of health contributing to maternal mortality, while providing funding to grow and diversify the perinatal workforce, giving health care workers the tools and training necessary to confront discriminatory and biased practices. Instead, Republicans believe extending tax cuts for the rich is more important.

BREAKING: House Republicans Vote to Move Forward With Gutting Medicaid

House Votes Again to Approve $880 Billion in Medicaid Cuts to Fund Tax Breaks for the Wealthy

Washington, D.C. — House Republicans voted to press forward with their budget that includes $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations. Their budget threatens to rip health care away from more than 70 million Americans, including children, seniors in nursing homes, veterans, people fighting cancer, and working families. Medicaid not only supports the health and well-being of millions of Americans, it strengthens local economies, sustains rural hospitals and community health centers, ensures access to critical long-term care services, and more. With their vote today, Republicans are rapidly closing in on their goal of slashing the largest health care provider in the country just to give tax cuts to billionaires and big companies.

In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement: 

“This vote marks a dark day in American history. By cutting Medicaid, Republicans are pulling the rug out from under everyday Americans. One in five Americans depends on Medicaid to access essential care, from seeing a doctor and filling prescriptions to receiving life-saving treatments. Medicaid is a lifeline, but instead of listening to the cries of the American people, Republicans are hellbent on delivering Trump’s billionaire tax cuts on a silver platter. 

“Republicans can lie all day about what this vote means, but the truth is that they voted for devastating Medicaid cuts in order to hand out tax breaks for the rich. At a time when Trump is tanking the economy and ripping apart the nation’s public health system with the help of Elon Musk, Americans cannot afford these devastating cuts to Medicaid.”

April is Medicaid Awareness Month, and Protect Our Care is leading the charge to defend Medicaid and the care that Americans count on. Throughout the month of April, Protect Our Care will release reports, publish fact sheets, host events around the country, and continue its “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign, demanding Republicans abandon their cuts to Medicaid. 

Background:

The Republican Budget Takes Health Care Away From Working People, Seniors, Veterans, And Children To Give Tax Breaks To The Rich. As the Georgetown Center for Children and Families found, Republicans’ math does not add up. The CBO confirmed that Republicans cannot make their proposed $880 billion in cuts without drastically cutting Medicaid and throwing millions of hardworking families off their coverage, closing rural hospitals, and kicking seniors out of nursing homes. 

Medicaid Is Extremely Popular, And Voters Will Hold Republicans Accountable For Ripping It Away From Their Loved Ones and Neighbors. Recent polling found that 71 percent of voters who backed Trump say cutting Medicaid would be unacceptable. Republicans are making a grave mistake by assuming the voters who supported them, many of whom rely on Medicaid, are not smart enough to see through their lies. Even Steve Bannon is warning Republicans against cutting Medicaid, arguing they are “dead wrong” if they don’t think “a lot of MAGAs [are] on Medicaid.”

NEW: Protect Our Care Rolls Through Capitol Hill With Mobile Billboard Calling on Congress to Reject Cuts to Medicaid

Protect Our Care Launches A Mobile Billboard on Capitol Hill With Ads Featuring Steve Bannon Cautioning Republicans: “A Lot Of MAGAs [Are] On Medicaid.”

View the Ads Here

Washington, D.C. — Today, Protect Our Care is launching a mobile billboard as the House is set to gut Medicaid in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations. The mobile billboard will circle Capitol Hill from 11 AM to 7 PM, displaying new ads highlighting widespread opposition to the Republican plan to slash $880 billion to Medicaid. The ads, first reported in The Hill, feature Trump loyalist and MAGA cheerleader Steve Bannon, warning Republicans to be “careful” because there are “a lot of MAGAs on Medicaid.” They also feature outraged constituents attending town halls and urging their representatives to protect their health care. The mobile billboard calls on Republicans to listen to their constituents and abandon their scheme to cut Medicaid. 

If the House approves this budget, Republicans will be responsible for the largest Medicaid cuts in history. Gutting Medicaid threatens to rip health care away from more than 70 million Americans, including children, seniors in nursing homes, veterans, people fighting cancer, and working families. Medicaid not only supports the health and well-being of its enrollees, it strengthens local economies, sustains rural hospitals and community health centers, ensures access to critical long-term care services, and more. Learn more here

Republicans are facing a clear choice: stand up for their constituents or stand up for the wealthy and big corporations,” said Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse. “Republicans’ budget proposal jeopardizes coverage for over 70 million Americans – that means health care for millions of children, seniors in nursing homes, people with disabilities, cancer patients, veterans, and more. If Republicans get their way, there won’t be a community in this nation that isn’t impacted. We’re calling on Republicans to protect Medicaid and put an end to the war on health care.” 

The ads target the following districts: David Schweikert (AZ-01), David Valadao (CA-22), Young Kim (CA-40), Ken Calvert (CA-41), Nick LaLota (NY-01), Andrew Garbarino (NY-02), Mike Lawler (NY-17), Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07), Rob Bresnahan (PA-08), and Dan Newhouse (WA-04).

Sample Mobile Billboard/Digital Ad Script for AZ-01:

Fox News Host: “In the bill the Republicans are putting forward, there will be an eight-hundred-eighty billion dollar cut to Medicaid.”

Narrator: Congress wants to cut Medicaid…. 

Woman at Town Hall: “I’m asking you today, please do not cut the federal Medicaid budget.”

Narrator: ….and people aren’t happy about it.

Man at Town Hall: “You don’t get to take our healthcare – get off me! You don’t get to do this to us!”

Steve Bannon:  “Medicaid you’ve got to be careful, cause a lot of MAGA’s on Medicaid. I’m telling you. If you don’t think so, you’re dead wrong.” 

Narrator: Call Congressman Schweikert and tell him to stop these cuts to Medicaid.

Faces of Medicaid: Who Are the People Who Will Suffer if Republicans Get Their Way?

Millions of Americans across the country rely on Medicaid to see doctors, fill prescriptions, and get the care they need. They are members of our family, our neighbors, and our community. For them, Medicaid is a lifeline.

But Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have made it crystal clear: they’re coming for Medicaid. This week, Republicans are expected to cement their plans to slash nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid, threatening the health care of over 70 million Americans. Their plans could rip away health care from children, people with disabilities, seniors in nursing homes, and hardworking families just to hand out more tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations.

These cuts put people’s lives on the line. The stories below come from Americans who know exactly what Medicaid means because they rely on it for critical coverage. They are the ones who suffer when Republicans try to rip coverage away.

Sheila Bingham, 47, Little Rock, AR.

  • “The 47-year-old receives both Medicare and Medicaid and is being treated for a rare cancer, debilitating migraines, type 2 diabetes, erratic blood pressure and intense pain. ‘I rely on Medicaid to pay my Medicare premium of $106 a month,’ she told Truthout. ‘I won’t survive if they start taking this out of my $1,400 disability check.’” [Truthout]

Tina Ewing-Wilson, 58, CA.

  • “‘If they reduce my budget, that doesn’t change the fact that I need 24-hour care,’ said Ewing-Wilson, who has struggled with seizures and developmental disabilities her entire life. ‘If they cut it too much, people will die or they’ll lose their freedoms.’” [AlterNet]

Jenny McLelland, mother of a 13-year-old boy who has a breathing disability, CA. 

  • “For her son, Medi-Cal is ‘a matter of life and death,’ she added. She believes if [Rep. Vince] Fong understood how vital Medi-Cal is to families, he would work to make the system better.” [AlterNet]

Beth Martinko, mother of Josh Lockwood-Wewer, 33, Anaheim, CA.

  • “As an adult with severe autism, Lockwood-Wewer depends on around-the-clock support from multiple aides. His caregivers prepare his meals and watch as he eats to make sure he doesn’t choke. They drive him everywhere from doctor’s appointments to his favorite restaurant, a fast food joint called Paul’s Place where he orders two chicken tenders every time. And they administer his regimen of a dozen daily medications to control his psychosis, depression and anxiety.”
  • “Martinko said she is doing everything possible to ensure Medicaid funding remains available for the programs that have allowed Lockwood-Wewer to remain healthy and happy at home, because without them, ‘The light would go out in Josh’s life.’” [Inkl]

Amanda Moore, mother of 9-year-old Jackson who has Angelman syndrome, IN.

  • “‘Our fear is that any sort of these cuts could impact his medications, it could impact the therapies that you need,’ said Moore, a Hamilton County resident. ‘… if it was left to be covered by private insurance or families? That’s a crisis. Our private insurance covers six therapy sessions a year. He gets five a week in order to give him the quality of life he deserves. So the fear of any of that going away? It’s a terrible thought.’” [Indiana Capital Chronicle]

Emily Johnson, 34, IA. 

  • “What’s more, not only will the cuts sever her financial bridge to her daily treatment, but it could stop her getting the surgeries she sorely needs. These are crucial treatments that could improve her long-standing health issues. These would help her regain a quality of life that enables her to not just survive, but live with fewer life-threatening, debilitating symptoms, and she hopes, even pursue her passions.” [The Canary]

Chloe Stovall, 23, Vivian, LA.

  • “She said her take-home wage working full time is $200 a week. She doesn’t own a car and walks a mile to work. The store provides health coverage, but she said she won’t qualify until she’s worked there for a full year — and even then, it will cost more than Medicaid, which is free. ‘I’m just barely surviving,’ she said.”
  • “Stovall said almost everyone she knows on Medicaid works at least one job. ‘I don’t even own a TV,’ she said.” [KFF Health News]

Doris Luccous, 24, LA.

  • “‘Most everybody you know is on Medicaid here,’ said Doris Luccous, 24. Luccous said she makes $250 a week after taxes as a housekeeper at a nursing home while raising her 2-year-old daughter in her childhood home. While shopping with her father — who doesn’t work, because of a disability — she said she counts on Medicaid for her bipolar medicines and to pay for therapy appointments. ‘I don’t know where I would be without it,’ she said.” [KFF Health News]

Benjamin Andrade, 57, LA. 

  • “Sitting in a David Raines clinic in Bossier City, Benjamin Andrade, 57, said having Medicaid has been a lifesaver since he needed heart surgery in 2020.”
  • “Without Medicaid, he said, ‘it would be very hard for me to pay for all the medicines I take.’” [KFF Health News]

Dominique Youngblood, 31, LA. 

  • “Dominique Youngblood, 31, who was at the clinic for a dental checkup, said she’s had Medicaid most of her life. ‘Medicaid helps me so I don’t have to pay out-of-pocket going to the doctors,’ she said.”
  • “Asked about GOP efforts to scale back the program, she said, ‘It’s not fair, because it helps a lot of people who cannot afford medications and emergency room trips, and those are costs you can’t control.’” [KFF Health News]

Joel Williams, 61, MN.

  • “Joel Williams, a 61-year-old kidney transplant recipient, says he worried about what care will look like for him. Williams was able to receive 11 years of dialysis and pay for multiple daily medications because of Medicaid. ‘He wouldn’t be here today without Medicaid,’ said Josh Horn, his clinical care coordinator RN. Williams, a former Chicago police officer disabled by asthma and diabetes, now depends on the program for specialized transplant care.” [KARE 11]

Rachelle Kivanoski, Brooklyn, NY. 

  • “Brooklyn, New York, parent Rachelle Kivanoski is the mother of a 42-year-old son who has an intellectual disability. He has been living in a four-person group home since 2020, and although he currently has both Medicare and Medicaid, Kivanoski told Truthout that she worries that changes might close some programs or diminish the services that he receives. ‘The expectation is that something truly catastrophic will happen,’ she said. ‘So many services are provided by Medicaid here in New York — community day programs, group homes, employment projects.’” [Truthout]

Kelly Smith, 57, New York City, NY. 

  • ‘The need for health care unites us all,’ Smith told Truthout. ‘Right now, I’m terrified of losing Medicaid and being unable to get injections for pain control. They’re the only thing that makes it possible for me to be on my game.’ [Truthout]

Kym Clarine, Bronx, NY. 

  • “If she loses Medicaid, she will have to forgo her annual physical exam, and neither she nor her 12-year-old daughter will be able to visit the dentist for regular check-ups. ‘Each visit costs $150 without insurance,’ she said. ‘I can’t afford that.’” [Truthout]

Eshawney Gaston, Durham, NC.

  • “She said her daughter requires specialized medical care and physical therapy because of her sickle cell anemia, health care Gaston would not be able to afford without help from Medicaid. ‘We all have to stand up and fight together because health care is a human right,’ Gaston said. ‘People don’t use Medicaid because they want to, I use it because I have to, because I can’t afford to do it on my own, because if I could, I would.’” [NC Newsline]

MaryAnn Ryan, mother to 30-year-old Kelly who has cerebral palsy, Gaston County, NC.

  • “MaryAnn Ryan said her family’s Medicaid benefits are ‘very crucial. We started getting services when she was 3 years old,’ MaryAnn Ryan said. ‘They provided caregivers so that I could get out. For her medicine, I have to literally put them in her mouth and make sure she swallows them, cut up her food, help her with bathing, hygiene, you name it.’”
  • “‘It could affect us, and I don’t know how,’ MaryAnn Ryan shared. ‘I need an income, and she needs to stay out of an institution, and this is how we make it work. In other words, without Medicaid help, I’d be forced to have her institutionalized. I’m 65. At what point can I no longer take care of her?’” [WCNC]

Carly Durham, mother of Niyah, 11, Richmond, TX. 

  • “My 11-year-old daughter, Niyah, has Down syndrome, autism and is a stroke survivor. Medicaid is what allows her to access essential therapies that help her learn to communicate, navigate her environment and develop skills that bring her greater independence. It helps cover in-home support, which makes it possible for our family to function. I can be not only her caregiver but also her mother.”
  • And still, the need outweighs the funding. My 12-year-old son, Carter, also has Down syndrome, but unlike his sister, he doesn’t receive or qualify for Medicaid services in Texas. He has been on the Medicaid waiver waitlist since 2016. His number on the list is 56,034.” [Austin American-Statesman]

Rebecca Powers, Lost Creek, WV.

  • “Rebecca Powers, of Lost Creek in Harrison County, was born into addiction. Now, she works as a cashier and clerk and uses Medicaid to pay for the mental health medication and addiction treatment she needs to live a stable life, visiting her kids and taking care of herself. She says without it, it’s likely she will lose her job, lose her home, lose visits with her kids and experience a mental health crisis. ‘To be honest, that scares me to death,’ she said. ‘I make $9 an hour, hardly enough to live.’” [Mountain State Spotlight]

Kim Frederick, mother of Matt, 17, WI. 

  • “Frederick’s family has relied on Medicaid to help pay for Matt’s care since he was born. He spent a considerable amount of time in the hospital as an infant. Once he became medically stable, he enrolled in Birth to 3, a program partially funded by Medicaid. The program paid for in-home therapy visits, which Frederick credits with advancing Matt’s speech and motor skills.” 
  • “‘(Matt) is always going to need extra support in the community,’ Frederick said. ‘I will do whatever I have to do for Matt, but I can’t replace these well-developed programs.’” [La Crosse Tribune]

Karena Wegner, caretaker of Dana Horstman, Bangor, WI.

  • “For Dana Horstman, caregiving is an indispensable part of Medicaid. She has been confined to a wheelchair since 2013 and relies on the caregiving she receives from Karena Wegner, her partner of 25 years.”
  • “Without Medicaid, Horstman would be unable to work her day job, which would force Wegner to find work outside the home, requiring a full-time nurse for Wegner.”
  • “‘I’m scared,’ Horstman said. ‘I’m really scared that Medicaid is going to be cut and life is going to change for a lot of people. I can’t believe we’re here.’” [La Crosse Tribune]

Tina Pohlman, La Crosse, WI. 

  • “She admits to anxiety about whether she’ll continue to have access to life-saving services if Medicaid is cut. ‘I will literally end up in the street,’ Pohlman said. ‘I don’t think I can work full-time.’ She said elected officials have no idea what will happen if Medicaid services are cut. ‘It’s not just me, it’s veterans, it’s everybody,’ Pohlman said. ‘What are they going to do? Push all the nursing home people in their hospital beds out on the bridge? Are they going to set us in the marsh?’” [La Crosse Tribune]

Alex Fisher, 63.

  • “‘Medicaid has covered three wrist surgeries, a breast reduction, and my dental and optical care,’ they told Truthout. ‘I’ve been going to rallies and writing and visiting my legislators to express my outrage, but I’m scared that I might lose coverage. As I get older, I know that I’ll need more care, not less, and even when I become eligible for Medicare at age 65, I know that it won’t cover many of the services I need.’” [Truthout]

NEW ADS: Protect Our Care, Steve Bannon Warn Republicans in Congress Not to Cut Medicaid

As Part of Its “Hands Off Medicaid” Campaign, Protect Our Care Is Launching Ads Featuring Steve Bannon Cautioning Republicans: “A Lot Of MAGAs [Are] On Medicaid.”

View the Ads Here

Washington, D.C. – As Republicans are poised to pass their radical budget, Protect Our Care is launching new television and digital ads to highlight widespread opposition to the Republican plan to slash $880 billion from Medicaid. The ads, first reported in The Hill, feature Trump loyalist and MAGA cheerleader Steve Bannon, warning Republicans to be “careful” because there are “a lot of MAGAs on Medicaid.” The ads also feature outraged constituents attending town halls and urging their representatives to protect their health care. The ads target key swing districts and call on Republicans to listen to their constituents and abandon their scheme to gut Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthy.

The latest ads are part of Protect Our Care’s ongoing 10-million-dollar “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign, coming immediately after a month-long ad campaign featuring a Trump-voting nursing assistant, named John, who wears his MAGA hat while warning about the damage of Medicaid cuts. Additionally, the campaign recently included Spanish-language radio ads highlighting the importance of Medicaid in Latino communities.

“Trump and Congressional Republicans are on a crusade to slash Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthy,” said Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse. “These ads expose Republicans for turning their backs on their constituents and prioritizing tax breaks for billionaires and big companies over the health and financial well-being of everyday Americans. Republicans’ budget proposal jeopardizes the health care of millions of children, seniors in nursing homes, people with disabilities, cancer patients, veterans, and the list goes on. Americans across the country, including Democratic and Republican voters alike, are counting on Republicans to do the right thing and protect our health care.”

Poll after poll confirms Trump and Republicans’ scheme to gut Medicaid is completely out of step with the American people. Recent Navigator polling confirms Medicaid is deeply popular amongst majorities of Americans, regardless of party affiliation. Seventy percent of Republicans and 66 percent of independents view Medicaid favorably, and majorities of Americans say they know someone who receives Medicaid benefits. Better yet, 75 percent of Americans oppose cuts to Medicaid, including 53 percent of Republicans and 78 percent of independent voters. 

The ads will launch in the following districts: David Schweikert (AZ-01), David Valadao (CA-22), Young Kim (CA-40), Ken Calvert (CA-41), Nick LaLota (NY-01), Andrew Garbarino (NY-02), Mike Lawler (NY-17), Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07), Rob Bresnahan (PA-08), and Dan Newhouse (WA-04).

Links to each of the 30-second ads can be found below:

David Schweikert (AZ-01)
David Valadao (CA-22)
Young Kim (CA-40)
Ken Calvert (CA-41)
Nick LaLota (NY-01)
Andrew Garbarino (NY-02)
Mike Lawler (NY-17)
Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07)
Rob Bresnahan (PA-08)
Dan Newhouse (WA-04)

Sample Ad Script for AZ-01:

Fox News Host: “In the bill the Republicans are putting forward, there will be an eight-hundred-eighty billion dollar cut to Medicaid.”

Narrator: Congress wants to cut Medicaid….

 Woman at Town Hall: “I’m asking you today, please do not cut the federal Medicaid budget.”

Narrator: ….and people aren’t happy about it.

Man at Town Hall: “You don’t get to take our healthcare – get off me! You don’t get to do this to us!”

Steve Bannon:  “Medicaid you’ve got to be careful, cause a lot of MAGA’s on Medicaid. I’m telling you. If you don’t think so, you’re dead wrong.” 

Narrator: Call Congressman Schweikert and tell him to stop these cuts to Medicaid. 

GOP War on Health Care: Headlines Across the Nation Reveal Broad Opposition to Republican Scheme to Slash Medicaid

Over the weekend, the Senate passed a budget resolution laying the groundwork to cut almost a trillion dollars from Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the ultrawealthy and big corporations. The House is expected to cement these plans later this week, threatening the health care of over 70 million Americans. At a time when Trump is ripping apart the nation’s public health system and tanking the economy, Americans cannot afford these devastating cuts to Medicaid 

Millions across the country have shouted their outrage during town halls and protests, railing against indiscriminate cuts to Medicaid and vital public health services. Research shows that Republican voters rely on Medicaid for their health care and that cuts are unpopular among Trump voters. New polls also continue to shine a light on the importance of Medicaid in local communities, providing critical coverage to low-income seniors, children, veterans, and people with serious disabilities. From Trump voters opposing Medicaid cuts to opinion pieces written in local media outlets, headlines across the country make it clear just how unpopular their agenda is.

NATIONAL

CBS News: House Speaker Johnson Is Eyeing Big Cuts To Medicaid. In His Louisiana District, It’s A Lifeline.

  • “Last year nearly 290,000 people in Johnson’s district were enrolled in Medicaid, about 38% of the total population, according to data compiled by KFF, the health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. About 118,000 of them are in the program thanks to the Affordable Care Act, which allowed states including Louisiana to expand Medicaid to cover low-income adults, many of whom were working in low-paying jobs that don’t provide health insurance. Louisiana ranks second in Medicaid enrollment, at nearly 32% — a reflection of the state’s high poverty rate. As Republicans weigh cuts, their actions could have dramatic consequences for their constituents here. Of the eight GOP-held House districts with the most Medicaid enrollees due to the expansion, four are in Louisiana. Johnson’s largely rural district ranks sixth in expansion enrollees.”
  • “In this heavily Republican district, where Johnson won with 86% of the vote in November, 22% of residents live in poverty. […] Medicaid recipients in Johnson’s district, told about GOP plans to cut the program, said their lives are hard enough in a state where the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Without Medicaid, they said, they couldn’t afford health coverage.”

Politico: Trump Pollster Finds Medicaid Cuts Unpopular Among Trump Voters.

  • “A majority of people who voted for Donald Trump oppose potential moves from congressional Republicans to cut Medicaid funding, according to new polling from the firm of Tony Fabrizio, the president’s 2024 campaign pollster.”
  • “‘There’s really not a political appetite out there to go after Medicaid to pay for tax cuts,’ said Bob Ward, partner with Fabrizio Ward, in an interview. ‘Medicaid has touched so many families that people have made up their minds about what they don’t want to see cut.’”

KFF Health News: The House Speaker’s Eyeing Big Cuts to Medicaid. In His Louisiana District, It’s a Lifeline.

  • “KFF Health News spoke with two dozen Medicaid enrollees in Johnson’s district. Most said they were unaware their congressman is leading the Republican charge to upend the program. Those informed of the Republican plan said it scares them.”
  • “Medicaid recipients in Johnson’s district, told about GOP plans to cut the program, said their lives are hard enough in a state where the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Without Medicaid, they said, they couldn’t afford health coverage.”

New York Times: The Three States That Are Especially Stuck if Congress Cuts Medicaid.

  • “If Republicans choose to make the projected budget reductions by cutting into Medicaid expansion, the other 37 states (and D.C.) that participate in the expansion could stop covering working-class adults. Nine states have laws explicitly requiring them to stop Medicaid expansion or make significant changes if the federal share of spending drops. But South Dakota, Missouri and Oklahoma can’t do that. They either need to amend their constitutions, a lengthy process that can take years, or figure out how to fill the budget hole, most likely by cutting other services or raising taxes.”

Axios: Senate Sets Up Clash Over Medicaid Cuts.

  • “What they’re saying: Republican senators have made clear their concerns about Medicaid cuts. ‘Tonight I spoke for a good bit with President Trump about Medicaid — he told me the House will NOT cut Medicaid benefits and the Senate will NOT cut Medicaid benefits and he won’t sign any benefit cuts,’ Sen. Josh Hawley wrote on X on Thursday. ‘I hope congressional leadership will get the message.’ Sen. Lisa Murkowski also wrote on X that despite her voting for the budget resolution, it had ‘serious shortcomings.’ These included the adoption of the current policy baseline and that it still had the instruction for finding $880 billion in savings from House Energy and Commerce ‘that would require significant cuts to Medicaid.’ Hawley even joined with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden on an amendment to strike that Energy and Commerce instruction. It narrowly failed, with Hawley, Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins the only Republicans to break ranks and vote for it.”

Truthout: Resistance Grows as Proposed Cuts Threaten Health Care for Over 79 Million in US.

  • “‘The need for health care unites us all,’ Smith told Truthout. ‘Right now, I’m terrified of losing Medicaid and being unable to get injections for pain control. They’re the only thing that makes it possible for me to be on my game.’”

The Canary: Trump’s Impending Medicare Cuts Spell Disaster for Severely Chronically Ill People Like Emily.

  • “What’s more, not only will the cuts sever her financial bridge to her daily treatment, but it could stop her getting the surgeries she sorely needs. These are crucial treatments that could improve her long-standing health issues. These would help her regain a quality of life that enables her to not just survive, but live with fewer life-threatening, debilitating symptoms, and she hopes, even pursue her passions.”
  • “To this point, Emily has only been able to access the care and surgeries she has needed due to Medicare and Medicaid.”

IN THE STATES

Public News Service: Federal Budget Cuts to Medicaid Would Significantly Impact New Mexico.

  • “‘Over 780,000 New Mexicans are currently enrolled in Medicaid,’ said Otero, ‘so federal cuts would greatly impact how things operate here in New Mexico.’ She added that cuts in coverage threaten health care services, from the birth of a new child to cancer treatments.”

WSHU: CT Democrats Seek Public Support to Stop GOP Medicaid Cuts.

  • “‘It’s like Sophie’s Choice who gets help here,’ he [Rep. Joe Courtney] said during a visit to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford on Friday. ‘There’s no question that every program, particularly children who are such a high percent of the patient population, would be negatively impacted,’ Courtney said.”

Union-Bulletin: Think Proposed Medicaid Cuts Will Affect Only Poor, Elderly in Central WA? Think Again.

  • “It’s not just people like Morgan’s client who need to be concerned about deep cuts to Medicaid that Congress may approve. The program provides free or low-cost medical care to nearly 300,000 in Washington’s 4th Congressional District, which includes the Tri-Cities. The district is the most dependent on Medicaid/Apple Health in the state, with 70% of children and 24% of adults relying on the government program. Covered patients include children, the elderly, those with disabilities, young families and people who don’t have health insurance benefits at their job. Steep reductions to the Washington Medicaid, or Apple Health, would impact services for other residents, according to health care officials. They could mean even busier emergency rooms, the closure of rural hospitals and loss of community doctors, and fewer medical services for everyone as hospitals lose Medicaid revenue.”

KMA Land: Nonprofits Warn Proposed Medicaid Cuts Could Devastate Millions of Missourians.

  • “About 1.3 million Missourians are currently enrolled in Medicaid and nonprofits around the state have warned proposed federal cuts would be devastating. In Missouri, children are the largest group served by Medicaid, with 61% enrolled. States could face more than $800 billion in Medicaid cuts and more than $200 billion in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps.”
  • “‘State legislators are going to be forced to — and administrators forced to — find those dollars elsewhere,’ Bryant Macklin pointed out. ‘That elsewhere will be from other key social services that folks are relying upon and that the state has grown accustomed to receiving that federal support.’”

CalMatters: California Has Big Plans for Improving Mental Health. Medicaid Cuts Could Upend Them.

  • “But mental health advocates, health plans, and county officials put it this way: Medicaid funding cuts would result in more sick people going without treatment. That would increase the likelihood of them losing employment or dropping out of school and ending up in need of more acute care, or worse, on the street.”

PennLive: Opinion: Federal Cuts to Medicaid Would Devastate Low-Income Pennsylvanians.

  • “Federal health care programs like Medicaid, Title X, and ACA Marketplace plans are essential for Pennsylvanians, especially people with low incomes, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community. These programs provide access to birth control, STI testing, cancer screenings, and gender-affirming care—services that keep our communities healthy.”

Kentucky Lantern: Opinion: Affordable Health Care Is at Risk for Many Kentuckians.

  • “Medicaid is also at risk: Politicians are spreading exaggerations and falsehoods, trivializing the successes of Medicaid and working hard to strip affordable health care away from those who need it most. In Congress, it has been widely reported that Republican leaders are weighing enormous cuts to Medicaid to pay for an extension of tax cuts for the wealthy.”

West Virginia Watch: Opinion: West Virginians Have Sent a Clear Message to Lawmakers: Don’t Cut Medicaid.

  • “West Virginians can’t afford state or federal cuts to Medicaid. We need our congressional delegation to fight for a budget that prioritizes people — not the interests of the wealthy few. If they truly represent the interests of their constituents, they will protect Medicaid and ensure that every West Virginian, regardless of income, has access to the health care they need.”

Daily Herald: Opinion: Protecting Medicaid’s Promise for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

  • “In Illinois, one in three people with intellectual and developmental disabilities rely on Medicaid for their long-term care and support needs. These are our neighbors, our family members, our friends — and they deserve to have the support needed to live independently, have careers and thrive in their communities.”
  • “Medicaid cuts won’t save money — they’ll shift costs to states, forcing states to cut services or increase the burden on taxpayers.”

La Crosse Tribune: Wisconsinites Fear Trump Medicaid Cuts; ‘This Time, It Just Feels Different.’

  • “Frederick, like many others in western Wisconsin, harbors deep concerns about the impact of possible Medicaid cuts. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a broad budget outline that calls for $880 billion in spending cuts over 10 years. Budget analysts doubt whether that can be achieved without deep cuts to Medicaid, especially if Congress approves another round of tax reductions while keeping programs such s Social Security, Medicare, defense spending, farm subsidies and veterans’ benefits untouched.”

Salt Lake Tribune: Cutting Medicaid Could Be Devastating for Children.

  • “Cutting Medicaid would deny coverage to many of these children. Not only would this show a lack of compassion for innocent children, there would be many other costs to our country. Children who are denied coverage would experience worse health outcomes, including impact to their mental health, which could affect their ability to be productive members of society as adults. The families are also likely to compile medical debt that they are unable to pay, increasing the costs of health care for the country overall.”

Cleveland.com: ‘Cataclysmic Ripple Effect:’ How Medicaid Cuts Could Harm Ohio’s Economy

  • “Patients could lose their health care while in the midst of cancer treatment. The newly uninsured may avoid getting care because they’re afraid of the bill. When they finally do see a physician, these patients will be sicker.”
  • “All hospitals would be impacted by the cuts because they must pay for the cost of care that Medicaid doesn’t cover. But safety-net hospitals, like MetroHealth System, are particularly vulnerable if cuts occur, because they treat a disproportionate share of the region’s lower-income individuals.”

AL.com: Opinion: I Became a Doctor to Save Lives. The State of Alabama Won’t Let Me.

  • “Over the last decade, I have watched, helplessly, as patients succumbed to preventable illnesses because they could not afford medical care. Alabama Medicaid covers health care for children, but once they reach age 19, their care is cut off, denying many sick kids access to care that would allow them to live the lives they wanted. I am not the only doctor who has had patients die because of insurance loss.”
  • “Protecting Medicaid will save lives. Funding cuts would be devastating — not just for patients, but for our entire health care system. People like Carrie and Blake deserve a chance to thrive. And physicians like me deserve a fighting chance to do what we trained to do: heal.”

Trump’s War on Health Care: Public Health Watch

“People Will Die” – Kennedy Unleashes Unprecedented Effort To Dismantle America’s Health Care System

Welcome to Public Health Watch, a weekly roundup from Protect Our Care tracking catastrophic activity as part of Donald Trump’s sweeping war on health care. From installing anti-vaccine zealot RFK Jr. as Secretary of HHS to empowering Elon Musk to make indiscriminate cuts to our public health infrastructure, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, Donald Trump is endangering the lives of millions of Americans. Protect Our Care’s Public Health Watch will shine a spotlight on the worst of the Trump/RFK/Musk war on vaccines, science and public health and serve as a resource for the press, public and advocacy groups to hold them accountable. 

What’s Happening In Public Health?

Catastrophic Cuts Are Creating Chaos And Endangering Americans’ Health And Scientific Innovation

Politico: RFK Jr. said HHS would rehire thousands of fired workers. That wasn’t true. When HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday that he planned to rehire 20 percent of the employees he’d just terminated, he insisted such a move was “always the plan.” Turns out, it wasn’t the plan at all. HHS has no intention of reinstating any significant number of the staffers fired as part of a mass reduction-in-force on Tuesday, despite Kennedy’s assertion that some had been mistakenly cut, a person familiar with the department’s plans told POLITICO. The layoffs eliminated roughly 10,000 jobs across HHS, gutting several public health offices and purging prominent senior scientists from the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health. They came after the department had already jettisoned 10,000 people who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers encouraged by the Trump administration. Kennedy at the time called the cuts necessary to refocus and improve HHS, even as he acknowledged it was a “difficult moment.” Yet on Thursday, he appeared to signal that some of those firings would be walked back. “Personnel that should not have been cut were cut — we’re reinstating them, and that was always the plan,” Kennedy said, indicating that CDC officials focused on monitoring lead exposure levels among children would be among those brought back. “The part of that, DOGE — we talked about this from the beginning — is we’re going to do 80 percent cuts but 20 percent of those are going to have to be reinstalled because we’ll make mistakes.” But contrary to Kennedy’s vow, his team had no expectation of reinstating anywhere near 20 percent of the fired workers.

CBS: RFK Jr. to lay off more NIH employees amid HHS restructuring, officials say More employees at the National Institutes of Health are expected to be laid off in the coming days, multiple federal officials say, less than a week after an initial wave of cuts gutted many offices within the health research agency. The NIH was initially supposed to lose about 1,200 scientists, support staff and other officials as a result of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s restructuring. It is unclear how many additional employees will be targeted for cuts. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services did not provide a response when asked why the additional cuts were occurring.  In a statement, a department official said that HHS is doing its reorganization “in phases,” following the layoffs of roughly 10,000 employees who were notified Tuesday that they were cut.

Washington Post: How the CDC’s widespread layoffs cut lifesaving health programs Drowning prevention. Hotlines to report school shootings. Contraceptive guidelines. Tips from former smokers on how to quit. Hundreds of employees who worked in these programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were laid off Tuesday, part of widespread job cuts across the Department of Health and Human Services designed to streamline the federal bureaucracy. The programs have lower profiles than the CDC’s infectious-disease investigations of the ongoing measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico, or last year’s E. coli illnesses from contaminated onions on McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. But these efforts reflect the ways the CDC’s portfolio has broadened over time to include a wider range of health issues as leading causes of death in the United States have shifted over decades, from infectious disease to accidents, suicides, overdoses and chronic illnesses. Employees who were laid off worked on measures to prevent drowning, gun violence and smoking. Scientists researched asthma, climate change and worker safety.

Stat: Trump administration orders NIH to eliminate $2.6 billion in federal contracts Leaders at the National Institutes of Health have been meeting this week to figure out how to cut $2.6 billion in contracts from the biomedical research agency’s budget, according to three people familiar with the matter and internal emails obtained by STAT.  Early last week, the Trump administration’s federal government-shrinking task force, known as the U.S. DOGE Service, directed the NIH to reduce contract spending across each of its 27 institutes and centers by roughly 35%. The NIH was told to comply by April 8, according to the emails obtained by STAT.  The cuts are likely to further paralyze an agency that on Tuesday lost 1,200 employees, including the directors of five institutes and the heads of several labs, and has had key grantmaking, research training, and science communication functions severely limited since Trump’s return to the White House.

Vox: A catastrophe is unfolding at the top US health agency — and it will put American lives at risk When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sought to be confirmed as Donald Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), he had to overcome a long record of fringe anti-science beliefs. He had indulged in conspiracies about chem trails, questioned whether HIV was the actual cause of AIDS, and, most notably, spread the repeatedly debunked theory that childhood vaccinations could lead to autism. In private meetings with senators and public confirmation hearings, he downplayed that record and claimed he wasn’t anti-vaccine: “I am pro-safety,” Kennedy said in his opening statement at one hearing. “I believe vaccines have a critical role in health care.” He gave assurances to Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, an MD and one of the last Republican holdouts on his nomination, that he would not change federal vaccine guidance But less than two months into his term, Kennedy is blocking the release of pro-vaccine data amid a widening measles outbreak even as he puts into motion long-term projects that seem set to further erode Americans’ wobbly trust in childhood vaccination. Coupled with the massive staff cuts at HHS, a weakened federal health department is being remade in Kennedy’s anti-vax, anti-science image — an overhaul that could have dangerous consequences for Americans’ health for years to come. On Tuesday, the Trump administration began to lay off 10,000 workers across HHS, which includes the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. Combined with workers who had already departed or were laid off earlier, the department’s overall headcount is expected to shrink from 82,000 to 62,000 people.

The Bulwark: ‘People Will Die’—RFK Jr. Guts America’s Health Bureaucracy The Trump Administration just took a sledgehammer to America’s public health infrastructure. On Tuesday morning, the Department of Health and Human Services informed thousands of employees they were losing their jobs. The notices came by email and, in one sense, they were not a surprise. Last Thursday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the layoffs were imminent, as part of a broader restructuring designed to shrink the department’s total workforce by 25 percent. But it’s one thing to know those layoffs are coming, quite another to learn about the real people who will no longer have jobs, the real positions that will no longer exist, and the real divisions that will no longer operate as they did before. The sheer breadth of the cuts is staggering: The layoffs affected agencies that exist to fight deadly pathogens, to protect the nation’s drug supply, to finance and carry out cutting-edge research—along with countless other divisions and offices that touch everything from rural health to early childhood care.

CNN: ‘It’s a bloodbath’: Massive wave of job cuts underway at US health agencies A massive wave of job cuts got underway at US health agencies Tuesday, with some employees receiving early-morning emails saying their jobs were eliminated and some unable to access the building when they arrived at work. It was not immediately clear how many employees had received notice Tuesday morning. The US Department of Health and Human Services has not responded to CNN’s request for comment. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said last week that 10,000 full-time employees would be cut on top of thousands who had already left and probationary employees currently on leave. He said the changes would make fighting chronic disease the priority and reduce “bureaucratic sprawl.” Kennedy promised that the department would do more with less. After weeks of worry from agency staffers, job cuts — known as a reduction in force, or RIF — were sweeping across offices at multiple agencies, hitting leadership, longtime staffers, scientists, administrators and communications staff. “It’s a bloodbath,” one US Food and Drug Administration employee said.

Health Impacts:

Local Impacts: 

Chaotic Firings and Re-Hirings:

Cruel and Destructive Policy Changes:

RFK Jr. Is An Extreme MAGA Anti-Vaxxer Who’s Breaking His “Assurances” To Key Republicans To Get Confirmed And Mis-Managing HHS

Stat: ‘Most effective way’ to prevent measles is vaccination, RFK Jr. says, in most direct remarks yet Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Sunday that “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine,” his most direct statement yet on the issue, following the death of a second child of the condition in the outbreak in West Texas.  Kennedy, who has long described the vaccine as dangerous, has largely avoided endorsing its use since the start of the outbreak, and he stopped short of explicitly saying he “recommended” it in his latest remarks, as public health officials have called on him to do.

  • The Daily Beast: RFK Jr. Touts Bogus Measles Treatment Hours After Burying 8-Year-Old Child Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the work of two controversial “healers” Sunday—just hours after advocating for vaccinations and attending the funeral of a child who died as part of a measles outbreak taking over Texas. Kennedy praised Dr. Richard Bartlett, who, according to CNN, has a history of using unconventional treatments and who was disciplined for “unusual use of risk-filled medications” by the Texas Medical Board in 2003. While none of the patients at the time had measles, the Texas Medical Board found that Bartlett had misdiagnosed his patients and mismanaged their care. He was cleared to return to practice in 2005. Kennedy then touted the work of Dr. Ben Edwards, who, according to The New York Times, is a vocal antivaxxer and who has a “wellness clinic” that dishes out vitamin C supplements and cod liver oil, both as a lemon-flavored drink and unflavored soft gels. In his latest X post, Kennedy was flanked by two families affected by the measles outbreak.
  • Washington Post: Can vitamin A treat measles? RFK Jr. suggests so. Kids are overdosing. Some unvaccinated children hospitalized with measles had signs of vitamin A toxicity, a hospital in West Texas said in a statement last week, adding that patient reports said it was being used “for both treatment and prevention of measles.” And in Gaines County, in West Texas, the center of a measles outbreak, there has been a surge in demand for products rich in vitamin A, such as cod liver oil.

Wall Street Journal: Ousted Vaccine Chief Says RFK Jr.’s Team Sought Data to Justify Anti-Science Stance The top vaccine regulator ousted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the health secretary’s team has sought nonexistent data to justify antivaccine narratives and pushed to water down regulation of unproven stem-cell treatments. “I can never give allegiance to anyone else other than to follow the science as we see it,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration official. “That does not mean that I can just roll over and take conspiracy theories and justify them.”  Marks, who is leaving his FDA post on Saturday after he was offered the choice to resign or be fired, described Kennedy’s tenure to date as “very scary” in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday.  The outgoing official said he was speaking out to encourage parents to vaccinate their children against measles, as cases mount in Texas and New Mexico. He urged the Trump administration to give a full-throated endorsement of the measles vaccine because it can prevent deaths and recommended a vaccination campaign.

Politico: Top Trump FDA official Brenner hits pause on Novavax Covid-19 vaccine decision A top FDA official directly intervened in an agency review of Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine, pausing the approval process to ask for more data on the shot, according to four people familiar with the decision granted anonymity to discuss the approval status. Dr. Sara Brenner, FDA’s Principal Deputy Commissioner, took the highly unusual step, cutting against longstanding precedent at the agency designed to shield scientific assessments from political interference. Typically, political FDA appointees follow the advice of career staff tasked with reviewing reams of data on drugs and vaccines seeking approval. The move comes amid HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to force out the top official responsible for reviewing such vaccines, Dr. Peter Marks, and put his deputy Julie Tierney on administrative leave.

New York Times: Kennedy’s Plan to Send Health Officials to ‘Indian Country’ Angers Native Leaders Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a show on Facebook of his meeting with American Indian and Alaska Native leaders last month, declaring himself “very inspired” and committed to improving the Indian Health Service, which he says has “always been treated as the redheaded stepchild” by his agency. Now Native leaders have some questions for him. Why, they would like to know, did he lay off employees in programs aimed at supporting Native people, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Tribes initiative? Why has he shuttered five regional offices of the Department of Health and Human Services that, by the estimate of one advocate for tribes, cover 80 percent of the nation’s Indian population? Why were five senior advisers for tribal issues within the department’s Administration for Children and Families, all of them Indian or Native people, let go? Why are all of these changes being made without consulting tribal leaders, despite centuries-old treaty obligations, as well as presidential executive orders, requiring it? But the final indignity, Native leaders say, came last week, when Mr. Kennedy reassigned high-ranking health officials — including a bioethicist married to Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, a tobacco regulator, a human resources manager and others — to Indian Health Service locations in the American West, when what the chronically understaffed service really needs are doctors and nurses who are familiar with the unique needs of Native people.

NBC: How Kennedy is already weakening America’s childhood vaccine system Last week, Jackie Griffith showed up at her office at the Collin County Health Care Clinic in north Texas ready to start her day — answering emails from local doctors before heading to a nearby high school to go over the latest vaccine record requirements.  Instead, the 60-year-old registered nurse was called into her director’s office and told to pack up her belongings. The federal government had yanked funding, she learned, and her position — supporting vaccination efforts for uninsured children through a network of more than 60 providers — was gone.  Across the country in New Hampshire, Kayla Hogan, 27, was hearing the same. She worked for the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, onboarding clinics and hospitals into a data system that would help them administer free childhood vaccines. Now that project was in jeopardy, threatening the process of getting children vaccinated.   The cuts that ensnared Griffith, Hogan and many others whose work touches vaccines in dozens of states were part of $11.4 billion in funds that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services pulled back from state and community health departments last week, included in the larger slashing of federal government under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. More than $2 billion was taken from “Immunization and Vaccines for Children” grants, which support the delivery of vaccines to children whose families may not be able to afford them,  according to a list HHS published. 

Mother Jones: During a Past Measles Outbreak, RFK Jr. Dismissed Concern as “Hysteria” In early 2015, the California Department of Public Health identified a case of measles in an 11-year-old who had recently traveled to Disneyland. Within a month, at least 125 US residents were stricken with the disease. About a third of them had visited the Magic Kingdom theme park, many were unvaccinated, and the outbreak spread to Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, as well as Canada and Mexico. This burst of measles prompted much public discussion about vaccine hesitancy. Yet Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed concern about the outbreak as “hysteria.” At the time, several state legislatures were considering measures that would limit vaccine exemptions, in many cases ending the ability of parents to skirt immunization requirements for their children by citing a personal belief (as opposed to a medical reason). As one of the most prominent anti-vaxxers in the nation, Kennedy opposed these bills.

Washington Post: NIH prepares to launch new research into autism causes, a Trump priority The National Institutes of Health is planning a new, multimillion-dollar research program examining the causes of autism and the spike in U.S. diagnoses, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe in-progress discussions. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, Principal Deputy Director Matthew J. Memoli and other agency officials have discussed a broad agenda to investigate autism spectrum disorders. The effort could involve launching a public competition intended to jump-start research ideas and interest, or a more traditional approach of awarding research grants, the people said. NIH also may purchase additional data compiled by outside researchers, the people said. NIH did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The research plan, which is still being finalized, would focus on understanding the causes behind the rise of childhood autism diagnoses, which have increased more than fourfold in the past two decades and have emerged as a top public health priority of the Trump administration. It would also delve into an issue that has been complicated by the long-lasting effects of a widely discredited 1998 research study that linked measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines to autism. While the study was retracted — and more than two dozen other studies into MMR vaccines have shown that the immunizations do not increase the risk of autism — about a quarter of Americans continue to mistakenly believe that there is a connection, and President Donald Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and some vocal advocacy groups have refused to rule it out.

Politico: RFK Jr. drops plan to have Medicare, Medicaid cover weight loss drugs Medicare and Medicaid will not cover blockbuster drugs such as Ozempic to treat obesity, the Trump administration announced on Friday. The Biden administration in November proposed allowing the public insurance programs to expand coverage of the anti-obesity medications but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services now says that is “not appropriate at this time.” More than 7 million people would have gained coverage to the medicine, CMS said when it proposed the rule. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized the class of weight loss drugs known as GLP-1s, arguing the obesity problem can be solved by improving Americans’ diets and encouraging exercise. Kennedy said in a Fox News interview in October that pharma companies are counting on selling the drugs to Americans because “we’re so stupid and so addicted to drugs.”

Axios: RFK Jr.’s emerging vision for HHS: More centralized power Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says sweeping layoffs and restructuring in the department will bring order to a bureaucracy he claims is in “pandemonium.” But experts say the overhaul also likely gives him far greater control over dozens of federal health agencies. Why it matters: HHS has long functioned like a decentralized behemoth, with key decisions on hiring, grant funding, and public health priorities often in the hands of career staff and scientists. The big picture: Along with cutting more than 10,000 jobs, HHS last week unveiled a plan centralize all human resources, IT, procurement and policy decisions, moving administrative control away from individual divisions. Central to this restructuring is the creation of the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), a new entity that aims to centralize functions related to public health, addiction services and environmental health under a single umbrella This move is seen by some as an attempt to exert greater political control over public health initiatives, potentially compromising the independence of operating agencies with specialized missions.  Experts warn that folding an agency like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration into a larger entity could dilute its focus and undermine efforts to combat the nation’s ongoing addiction and mental health crises.

Other MAHA Activities:

Court Battles

New York Times: Trump Is on Shaky Legal Ground With Mass Layoffs at H.H.S., Experts Say A “policy lab” that generates ideas to improve mental health. An office that studies the effects of smoking. A team of scientists and public health experts who focus on birth defects. All three are programs in the Department of Health and Human Services that were created by Congress, which funds them. And all three have been hollowed out by mass layoffs at the agency ordered by President Trump and Elon Musk, the billionaire adviser leading the federal government’s cost-cutting efforts. Since Tuesday, when the layoffs began, lawmakers, medical associations, research universities and state health agencies have scrambled to sort out which jobs were eliminated, and how to respond. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has already admitted that some workers were mistakenly fired alongside nearly 20 percent of the agency’s work force, and has promised that they will be reinstated. The Republican chairman and top Democrat on the Senate health committee asked Mr. Kennedy to testify about the cuts next week, but it is not clear if he has accepted the invitation. One thing is clear: The layoffs and wholesale reorganization of the department are the latest in a series of Trump administration actions ripe for legal challenges. The administration has been on shaky ground, legal experts said, in dissolving agencies created and funded by Congress.

CBS: CBS: Federal judge temporarily blocks $11 billion in Trump administration’s cuts to public health funding A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s move to cut over $11 billion in public health funding to states after 23 states and the District of Columbia sued to keep the funding intact. The coalition of states sued the Health and Human Services Department and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., arguing that the money is used for many “urgent public health needs,” including tracking diseases, funding access to vaccines and mental health and addiction services, and improving health infrastructures. The attorneys general allege that the funding was “abruptly and arbitrarily terminated” on March 24. The Trump administration has pointed to the easing of the public health threat posed by COVID-19 in justifying its move to cut off the funding, which was first offered to state and local health departments earlier during the public health emergency declared for the virus.

New York Times: Judge Permanently Bars N.I.H. From Limiting Medical Research Funding A federal judge permanently barred the Trump administration on Friday from limiting funding from the National Institutes of Health that supports research at universities and academic medical centers, restoring billions of dollars in grant money but setting up an almost certain appeal. The ruling by Judge Angel Kelley, of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts, made an earlier temporary order by her permanent and was one of the first final decisions in the barrage of lawsuits against the Trump administration. But it came about in an unusual way: The government asked the court to enter that very verdict earlier on Friday so it could move ahead with an appeal. The decision nonetheless was an initial win for a diverse assortment of institutions that conduct medical research. After the Trump administration announced the policy change in February, scores of research hospitals and universities issued dire warnings that the proposal threatened to kneecap American scientific prowess and innovation, estimating that the change could force those institutions to collectively cover a nearly $4 billion shortfall.

New York Times: 16 States Sue to Restore N.I.H. Funding California, Massachusetts and 14 other states sued the Trump administration on Friday for withholding grant funding from public health and medical research institutions, cuts that have forced universities to curtail research and to delay the hiring of new staff. The National Institutes of Health is the world’s leading public funder of biomedical research, supporting studies on aging, substance abuse and other major issues. More than 80 percent of the agency’s $47 billion budget goes to outside researchers — grant funding that in recent weeks has been eliminated, paused or delayed by the Trump administration in a “concerted, and multi-pronged effort to disrupt NIH’s grants,” according to the lawsuit. Cuts and delays to N.I.H. funding have crippled research teams in universities across the country and halted studies midstream, setting back work on diseases like cancer and diabetes and plunging American medical research into crisis. The attorneys general are asking the courts to restore pulled grant funding and to allow pending grant applications to be evaluated and approved fairly.

CNN: Scholars, groups sue Trump administration over canceled NIH research funding 

A public health association and one of the nation’s largest worker unions are suing the Trump administration over the abrupt cancellation of hundreds of research grants, arguing that the moves were arbitrary and capricious and that the federal grant process is supposed to be above politics. The complaint was filed Wednesday in a Massachusetts court by the American Public Health Association, the United Auto Workers, which also represents research scientists, and several scholars against the US Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Disastrous, Dangerous Appointments

USA Today: Mehmet Oz wins Senate confirmation to lead Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Television host and surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz was confirmed on Thursday to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on a 53-45 vote that split the U.S. Senate along party lines with Republicans in support and Democrats in opposition. During his confirmation hearing last month, Oz vowed to empower patients to take charge of their health care and crack down on fraud, waste and abuse to safeguard federal health programs.

  • New York Times: Dr. Oz ‘Disavows’ Support for Transgender Care, Assuaging a Senator’s Concerns Senator Josh Hawley, the Missouri Republican, said on Monday that he had decided to support the nomination of Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead Medicare and Medicaid because Dr. Oz told him that he would no longer support transgender care for minors and was “unequivocally pro-life.” The Senate is expected to vote on Dr. Oz’s nomination to become administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sometime this month. Mr. Hawley was vocal about withholding his support for Dr. Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon who became a daytime TV celebrity, over concerns about his previous positions on transgender care and certain state abortion laws. Dr. Oz featured segments on the television show about transgender care and had also previously raised possible objections to proposed state legislation that would prohibit abortion based on fetal heartbeats. In his responses to Mr. Hawley’s written questions, Dr. Oz assured the senator that he “disavows his previous support for trans surgeries & drugs for minor children,” Mr. Hawley posted on X, the social media site. He added that he “also walks back past criticism of state pro-life laws.” Dr. Oz said he would also “work to end funding for abortion providers,” Mr. Hawley said.

Politico: New FDA commissioner agreed to oust top vaccine regulator after private swearing-in Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary signed off on the ouster of top vaccine official Peter Marks shortly after being quietly sworn in as the agency’s new leader late last week, four people familiar with the matter told POLITICO. The forced removal was Makary’s first major act as commissioner and sent a powerful signal to a stunned Washington that was already anxious about the role vaccine skepticism would play under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Health and Human Services Department. Makary and Kennedy had previously agreed to push out Marks, who led the FDA’s vaccine division for more than eight years, as part of a broader overhaul of HHS leadership.

Public Health Threats

NBC: Second measles death reported in Texas Another child with measles in Texas has died, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed late Saturday night, though the exact cause of death is under investigation. This would be the second pediatric death amid a fast-growing outbreak that’s infected nearly 500 people in Texas alone since January. An adult in New Mexico is also suspected of dying from measles. The deaths are the first from the disease in the United States in a decade.  HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was expected to attend the child’s funeral, which is scheduled for Sunday, according to a person familiar with the plans.

NBC: Texas measles outbreak nears 500 cases as virus spreads among day care kids Six young children at a Lubbock, Texas, day care center have tested positive for measles — a dreaded scenario with the potential to accelerate an already out-of-control outbreak that has spread to at least two other states. More than a dozen other states and Washington, D.C. are dealing with cases of measles unrelated to Texas. On Friday, the Texas Department of State Health Services said the toll rose to 481 confirmed cases, a 14% jump over last week. Fifty-six people have been hospitalized in the area since the disease started spreading in late January.

  • Stat: U.S. may be reverting to a time when measles deaths were not very rare, experts warn The United States recorded three measles deaths in the first 24 years of this century. In just over three months of 2025, it has equaled that number. The most recent patient, an 8-year-old unvaccinated and previously healthy girl in West Texas, died late last week. Infectious disease experts warn that the days when measles deaths in the United States were ultra rare may be over for now.  With vaccination rates falling in parts of the country and a long-term critic of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — as the country’s leading health official, experts interviewed by STAT warned the country may be on a trajectory where increasingly large measles outbreaks will occur and some of those cases will be fatal.

CNN: Two infants die of whooping cough in Louisiana as cases climb nationally In his 20 years working in pediatric infectious disease, Dr. John Schieffelin has never seen another illness like pertussis. Also known as whooping cough, it’s a contagious respiratory illness that can develop into a painful, full-body cough. The coughing fits can be severe, often accompanied by a whooping sound when the person tries to catch their breath. And it’s continuous, even if a person needs to be placed on a ventilator, says Schieffelin, an associate professor of pediatrics at Tulane University. “For infants, it’s really rather terrifying,” he said. “They’re just coughing so much, they can’t eat, they can’t drink, and they often get a pneumonia, which means we have to put them on a ventilator. … They just never stop coughing.” In Louisiana, two infants have died of pertussis in the past six months, according to the state health department, the first deaths from the disease in the state since 2018. Louisiana has had 110 cases of pertussis reported so far this year, the health department said – already approaching the 154 cases reported for all of 2024. Cases are on the rise nationally, too. There were more than 35,000 cases of whooping cough last year in the US, the highest number in more than a decade, and 10 people died — six of them less than 1 year old.

Public Health Threats Around The World:

Opinion and Commentary

FACT SHEET: Republicans Are Coming After Medicaid and Millions of Americans With Disabilities Will Pay the Price

This April marks the eighth annual Medicaid Awareness Month. Medicaid is the largest health insurance program in the country, providing health care for over 70 million Americans. It is a crucial source of quality and affordable care for people with disabilities, including kids, students, and many of the 1 in 4 Americans with some type of disability. Medicaid pays for over half of all long-term care in the United States, which includes essential home- and community-based services for people with disabilities. In 2010, the ACA opened the door for states to expand Medicaid, and the results are clear: Medicaid expansion works. In addition to providing coverage for about 24 million people, expansion has resulted in healthier people, communities, and economies. Study after study shows that Medicaid expansion increases access to care, improves financial security, and leads to better health outcomes for people with disabilities. Protecting access to Medicaid is essential for ensuring that people with disabilities get the care they need. 

Despite providing critical services for millions of Americans, Trump and Republicans in Congress are targeting Medicaid for almost a trillion dollars in cuts in order to give billionaires and big corporations another tax cut, even if it means dismantling the health care American families rely on. The consequences of such severe cuts to Medicaid would touch nearly every household in America. Families would be forced to choose between seeing a doctor, filling a prescription, and putting food on the table. Recent polling found there is broad opposition across party lines to any cuts to Medicaid, with 67 percent saying Congress should increase spending on Medicaid or keep it about the same.

During Medicaid Awareness Month, Protect Our Care is continuing its “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign with theme weeks to underscore the importance of Medicaid across the country. Alongside partners, lawmakers, and other advocates, Protect Our Care is working to defend Medicaid from the Republican-led plan to slash funding to pay for another round of tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations. 

By The Numbers 

  • Over 1 in 5 Medicaid Enrollees Have A Disability. Over 1 in 5 of Medicaid enrollees report having a disability, and 13 percent of all Medicaid enrollees are people with disabilities.
  • Up To 1 In 4 U.S. Adults Have A Disability. Over 70 million American adults have some type of disability. Medicaid covers 41 percent of nonelderly adults with disabilities, including adults with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and mental illnesses.
  • 15 Million Non-Elderly Adults Are Enrolled in Medicaid Due To At Least One Disability. 15 million people under age 65 enrolled in Medicaid qualified as a result of a disability determination. Other individuals with disabilities may qualify for Medicaid due to age, pregnancy, or income.
  • Medicaid Covers More Than Half Of All Long-Term Care. The Medicaid program provides more than half of all long-term care in the United States, which includes essential home- and community-based services for people with disabilities. 61 percent of our nation’s spending on long term care is paid for by Medicaid. 
  • 1 in 4 Americans With Disabilities Face Cost Barriers to Access Care. 1 in 4 adults with disabilities has had an unmet health care need in the past year due to high costs.

People With Disabilities Rely On Medicaid Expansion For Coverage. Two-thirds of people with disabilities who rely on Medicaid do not receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), meaning that they qualify for Medicaid on another basis (such as income, or as parents in non-expansion states). Medicaid expansion funding is a significant source of health care coverage for these adults, providing critical access to care for serious health conditions.

Medicaid Expansion Helps Adults With Disabilities Gain Access To Affordable Care Without Having To Wait. Medicaid expansion helps adults with disabilities gain quicker access to coverage without waiting for a disability determination, which can take years. Thanks to the ACA, Medicaid expansion has allowed people to gain coverage who previously were not eligible for coverage and otherwise would have been uninsured

Medicaid Expansion Has Improved Health Care Services For People With Disabilities. According to a 2022 study, Medicaid expansion often improves the care people with disabilities receive. Having Medicaid coverage for a full year has been associated with increased primary care visits, increased vaccinations, and decreases in out-of-pocket spending. People with disabilities see these improvements at higher rates than those without a disability. 

Medicaid Expansion Reduces Out-of-Pocket Health Care Spending, Which Is Especially Important For People With Disabilities Who Often Have Limited Incomes. 1 in 4 working-age adults with a disability has income that is below the federal poverty line (FPL) ($14,880 for an individual, and $23,280 for a family of three on average in 2022). In 2022, CMS adopted rules to lower maximum out-of-pocket costs by $400.

Medicaid Is One Of The Most Effective Anti-Poverty Programs, Particularly For People With Disabilities. Medicaid reduces poverty by limiting out-of-pocket spending and expanding state-level Medicaid programs.  The average out-of-pocket spending decreased in states that expanded Medicaid. The poverty-reducing effects were greatest for adults with disabilities, seniors, children, and racial and ethnic minorities.

Medicaid Expansion Has Increased Employment For People With Disabilities. According to a 2021 study, individuals with disabilities living in Medicaid expansion states are more likely to be employed than those living in states that have not expanded the program. In expansion states, people with disabilities have seen increased health coverage and employment rates compared to non-expansion states. Medicaid also provides services that assist people with medical needs in finding employment.

Hundreds of Thousands of Americans With Disabilities Are Stuck Without Coverage In States That Have Refused to Expand Medicaid. 10 states have refused to expand Medicaid under the ACA, stranding many low-income adults in the Medicaid coverage gap. As a result, over 265,000 Americans with disabilities with incomes below the federal poverty level are ineligible for Medicaid or ACA marketplace assistance in these states. Over half of these individuals reside in Texas or Florida, and adults with disabilities form at least 20 percent of those in the Medicaid coverage gap in Alabama, South Carolina, Kansas, Tennessee, and Wyoming. 

Medicaid Helps People With Disabilities Access Comprehensive, Consistent Long-Term Care. People with disabilities who rely on Medicaid comprise 95 percent of the fees for service of long-term care services, while making up less than 25 percent of the people who are enrolled in the program. 

Medicaid Is Critical For Children With Disabilities. Medicaid provides critical funding for schools to get equipment, services, and personnel that students with Individualized Education Plans require to succeed, from speech therapy to personal aides to the technology that helps blind and deaf students communicate. Medicaid funding ensures schools can provide the wide range of services needed to educate students with disabilities and allows them to comply with Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requirements despite their strained budgets. Families with children with disabilities are also more likely to fall into financial hardship, and Medicaid provides a safety net through its cost-sharing protections to help children with disabilities get the care they need without putting additional stress on their family to pay for their doctor visits, medication, or therapy.