The First 100 Days: How Has Healthcare Fared In The New Era

A review of the first 100 days of any presidency is nothing new. It’s a way to track how policy changes and new laws created by the new administration have affected our country in its first three months, including healthcare.

Considering the promises President Trump made during his campaign trail, we already knew healthcare reforms were on the way. However, the extent was still up in the air. Though now, more than a 100 days later, we have a much clearer idea of where public health is headed in the U.S., following a complete reformation of the healthcare infrastructure consisting of budget cuts, new laws, and a healthcare mandate defined by the phrase ‘Make America Healthy Again.’

So today, let’s discuss the first 100 days of the new administration in terms of public health, research, and the medical industry as a whole.

• How Healthcare Has Changed In The Past 100 Days
• The Current Administration’s Contributions Towards Public Health
• The Future Of Scientific Research And Biomedical Innovations

The First Month: An Explosive Start To Healthcare Reforms?

To say that President Trump started his second term in office with a bang would be an understatement. The wave of executive orders significantly impacted healthcare, with some policies being rescinded and new ones presented for review in front of the federal government.

And even though executive orders don’t become concrete laws overnight, the many changes proposed were huge in their implications. The following were just a few of the orders proposed:

U.S. stepping back from World Health Organisation

This was, by far, the biggest news in the healthcare space when it happened. The U.S. has been a long-term ally of the World Health Organisation, whilst also being its top donor.

But President Trump’s executive order basically ended the relationship between the U.S. and the World Health Organisation. The administration blamed it on the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and an ‘unfair payment scale’ in which the U.S. pays 90% more than any other country.

There were also concerns about the World Health Organisation being vulnerable to ‘outside political influence.’

Scaling back on the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act, introduced by President Obama, was a landmark law that extended Medicare and Medicaid to a larger demographic, ensuring that everyone has some form of medical coverage available to them.

However, the Trump Administration rescinded a modification to the law that was put in place by the previous administration. This was an action that helped extend enrollment periods for most states in the U.S., but they did grant additional funding for third-party agencies that helped with the enrollment process itself.

Fluctuations in prescription drug pricing

Drug expenses are one of the most concerning aspects of medical care in the U.S.. Unlike the rest of the world, Americans spend much more on pharmaceuticals due to price gouging here.

So, President  Trump’s executive order regarding lower drug prices was a welcome action, as it would ensure that people can get the medication they need without going bankrupt. The order stated that the Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation should look towards new payment models to limit drug spending, ensuring affordable care for all.

Bringing A.I. into the medical frontier

The realm of artificial intelligence is still in its beta form, mostly being utilised for more creative endeavours. However, there is real potential for its use in the medical and business sectors, albeit supervised.

So, it isn’t surprising that the current government is trying to get ahead of the curve and implement laws that allow AI to be used in a ‘responsible’ manner, such as establishing a task force to aid the U.S. Department of Health.

However, the current law enables more companies to develop AI without nearly as much red tape as during the Biden administration.

Reproductive health and reinstating the hyde amendment

Perhaps the most controversial of all the executive orders, bringing back the Hyde Amendment meant that the government would no longer fund abortion care to the extent it used to.

And in a country that is already scaling back monumental laws that enabled people to have readily available reproductive care, this is concerning. Furthermore, President Trump also signed off on the New Mexico City Policy, where private organisations will need to prove that they don’t offer abortion care under the guise of family assistance planning.

Caretakers like doctors will no longer be protected if they are found guilty of providing said care because the Freedom of Access to Clinical Entrances law is also being rescinded.

The Second Month: Trimming The ‘Excess’ To Streamline Budget?

By the end of January, it was clear the current government had big plans for reshaping healthcare in the U.S.. However, executive orders aren’t concrete. They are essentially proposals put forward by the President on what he plans to do going forward.

But then came the freeze, a series of actions taken by the government to halt funding to many healthcare and medical-adjacent projects and agencies.

The executive orders created a ripple effect, in which various clinics all over the country found federal funding inaccessible. This freeze in funding led to healthcare employee layoffs, and the termination of federal grants that tackled issues such as HIV prevention care, diabetes, and even pediatric care.

The funding freeze even affected the public health avenues of Medicaid and Medicare, with healthcare portals shut down and people unable to make payments to access medical care. As we all know, a delay in healthcare access can be devastating to patients everywhere, especially in unpredictable times like these.

Medical research greatly suffered at this time; It was reported that the new administration had slashed around $1.8 billion in National Institute of Health grants. However, some agencies suffered more than others. Evidence revealed that the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities had 30% of its funding cut, with plans to dismantle the institute entirely next year.

This is concerning when you realise that medical research is the key to innovation in healthcare.

Another facet of this was cutting foreign aid altogether, which meant that agencies across the globe, depending on foreign aid from the U.S, were pushed to the brink of a severe health crisis.

This was all part of the Trump Administration’s new budget proposal, which reduced funding to sectors such as clean energy, public health, and education to bolster the economy and military spending.

The Third Month: Make America Healthy Again

To be fair, the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement has existed since President Trump made healthcare a focal point for his second-term campaign. And it got the official White House stamp with this presidential action that asked for a solution to be put forward.

This brings us to our last section of the 100-day review, which ended with the establishment of the Make America Healthy Again commission, spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The commission only recently released a report outlining what it viewed as the biggest threats to public healthcare in the U.S., including nutritional deficits and the obesity pandemic, chemical toxin exposure, and vaccine scheduling. We’ve already discussed this healthcare mandate and what it entails, which you can read here.

Furthermore, the Department of Health and Human Services has projected that nearly 10,000 workers will be terminated from key agencies that helped lower health disparities. This includes divisions in the FDA, CDC, and even the HRSA, all vital departments in helping curb the gap in health accessibility amongst minority and rural communities.

The layoffs also affect infection control, which played a huge role in the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Around $11 billion has been pulled from departments across the country, specifically in COVID funding.

According to an HHS spokesperson, it’s because taxpayer dollars don’t need to go towards a pandemic that ‘doesn’t exist anymore.’

However, this cut in funding affects all responses to infectious diseases, as showcased by multiple states struggling to respond to the ongoing measles outbreak. With cases being underreported and outreach programs being gutted, cases have risen to a high of 1000 already.

They say the first 100 days of a new administration reflect the next four years. If so, the healthcare sector will see some interesting developments as we move further into the term.

Image Credits: Gage Skidmore