You can’t cut your way to better health, according to a new U.S. News & World Report commentary by our CEO, Dr. Brian Castrucci.
Rather than “draining the swamp” in Washington, D.C., he writes, the Trump administration’s cuts of nearly $12 billion in public health funding will harm every community in the country. The administration “is playing Jenga with our safety, security, and economic prosperity….Every dollar cut yanks out another block. And when the tower collapses, it will cost Americans more jobs and lives.”
While public health agencies could use reform, he writes, ending programs that track measles outbreaks, fight opioid addiction, and ensure safe water and food is not the way forward. “You can’t gut disease prevention and pretend you’re fighting diabetes,” Dr. Castrucci writes. “You can’t lay off food inspectors and call it a nutrition strategy. You can’t slash mental health and substance abuse grants and claim you’re working to address addiction. These decisions won’t make Americans healthier; they will make us sicker, weaker, and more vulnerable to the next crisis or pandemic.”
SOURCE: de Beaumont analysis of data from the Department of Government Efficiency (doge.gov/savings). The red bars indicate states that President Trump carried; states that Vice President Kamala Harris carried are blue.
The cuts will fall hardest on states that President Trump carried in the 2024 election, according to a de Beaumont Foundation analysis of data from the Department of Government Efficiency. Many of these are also states with the poorest health indicators. For example, of the states with the lowest average lifespans, Trump carried nine of them. The 10 states with the highest average lifespans were all states that Vice President Kamala Harris carried. The states with the highest percentage cuts to their HHS funding include Oklahoma, Mississippi, Idaho, Texas, Indiana, and Missouri.
We need reform and solutions, not just cuts, Dr. Castrucci concludes. “It’s time to end the grand-standing and empty campaign slogans and instead fund what works, fix what’s broken, and find ways to build a healthier America together.”
Read “Is This the Way to Make America Healthier?”
