RFK Jr. Shrugs at $700B in Medicaid Cuts That Hurt Black People

Tensions ran excessive on Capitol Hill this week as Congress grilled Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the Trump administration’s proposal to slash $21.6 billion from the nation’s public well being system — cuts that would disproportionately harm Black and low-income communities.

Kennedy was questioned for hours Wednesday in two separate hearings — one within the Home Appropriations Committee, and the opposite earlier than the Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions Committee. Lawmakers slammed his management, pointing to the West Texas measles outbreak, and condemned the Trump administration’s plans to chop billions extra from the HHS price range.

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At one level within the listening to, acknowledging that, if he have been the mum or dad of a small little one, he would approve their vaccination, Kennedy added, “I counsel the American individuals to not take medical recommendation from me.”

Dr. Georges Benjamin, government director of the nonprofit American Public Well being Affiliation, mentioned at a press convention after the listening to that the Trump administration’s said motive for the cuts — fiscal accountability — doesn’t maintain up below scrutiny. 

Well being Issues Might Improve

“They’re not reducing waste, fraud, and abuse. They’re reducing performance,” Benjamin mentioned. “This isn’t only a price range concern. It’s an ethical concern: $700 billion popping out of Medicaid will consequence within the lack of protection for a minimum of 13 million individuals.”

At concern is a blueprint for spending cuts drawn up by the Division of Authorities Effectivity that Kennedy and his crew have begun to implement. Though Kennedy mentioned he pushed again on some cuts and has reinstated packages minimize mistakenly, he mentioned he intends to remain the course, implementing the DOGE plan and its “painful” minimize reductions.

Already, some 20,000 HHS staff have been fired or taken a buyout or early retirement. If these further price range cuts materialize, they might prohibit or hamper healthcare entry for thousands and thousands of low-income Black People. That doubtless would improve persistent well being points within the Black group, like coronary heart illness, hypertension, and diabetes.  

The cuts additionally threaten to reverse the progress made in combating America’s overdose disaster, a burden that disproportionately impacts Black communities. Slashing Medicaid additionally means entry to main care companies will lower total. 

“Once they minimize the Medicaid price range, they are going to dramatically undermine the first care capability within the nation,” mentioned Dr. Benjamin. “There are [also] considerations about lack of many hospitals, notably rural hospitals. Once more, these hospitals serve a broad operate in communities. They typically serve a really, very a lot a main care operate in lots of communities, due to the way in which they’re linked to the well being system in these communities.”

Contentious Listening to

On the Senate listening to, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, a first-term Democrat and the primary Black girl to symbolize Maryland, was amongst Kennedy’s most vocal critics. Earlier this week, she was certainly one of three senators who filed a no-confidence decision on Kennedy’s HHS management. The decision cites greater than 50 the explanation why the Secretary is unfit to steer the division charged with safeguarding the nation’s well being.

 “You’ve been unable generally to reply particular questions associated to your company,” Alsobrooks informed Kennedy. 

When the secretary argued that the senator isn’t conversant in NIH and its packages, Alsobrooks reminded him that his company is headquartered in her state — and he or she was there just lately, assembly with researchers Kennedy had fired.

She already understands his division, Alsobrooks informed Kennedy: “I don’t want any assist from you.”

 “You’ve been unable generally to reply particular questions associated to your company,” Alsobrooks added. 

Listening to Disrupted

Through the listening to, protesters, together with Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, disrupted the listening to, and safety officers eliminated them from the room. A number of of them loudly blasted the price range plan and accused Kennedy of harming individuals with HIV and AIDS. 

The proposed price range would slash an estimated $715 billion from federal healthcare spending, a lot of it from Medicaid — a transfer that the Congressional Funds Workplace estimates would go away thousands and thousands of People with out protection.

Critics argue these cuts can be devastating for Black households, who usually tend to depend on Medicaid and public well being infrastructure as their solely technique of healthcare entry. 

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The Trump Administration intends to restructure the present healthcare businesses by combining them into a brand new entity referred to as “The Administration for a Wholesome America.” A number of the businesses that might be minimize embrace the Workplace of the Assistant Secretary for Well being, the Well being Sources and Providers Administration, and the Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Providers Administration. 

Benjamin identified that the administration’s claims about reallocating assets merely don’t add up. “You’ll be able to’t change $6 billion in cuts to crucial businesses like SAMHSA, HRSA, and the CDC with $500 million for AHA, which is mainly solely what’s within the CDC price range for overdose prevention. The maths doesn’t make sense,” Benjamin mentioned.