Trump and Robert Kennedy Are Waging War Against Americans with Cancer

Trump and Robert Kennedy Are Waging War Against Americans with Cancer

New Memo Details The Most Destructive Assault In History On Cancer Research, Access To Care, And Affordable Treatments

Memo Text (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released new facts about the Trump administration's war on Americans with cancer.

"Americans with cancer are taking one gut punch after another from Trump and Republicans in Congress," Wyden said. "From cutting Medicaid and bailing out Big Pharma to firing researchers, Trump is taking America backwards at breakneck speed in the fight against this terrible disease. I am working around the clock to stop Trump and Republicans from tearing down the progress the country has made in the battle against cancer."

The memo highlights how Trump and Republicans have attacked cancer research, access to care, and affordable life-sustaining treatments.

1. Donald Trump led Republicans in reversing decades of progress to fight cancer. The reconciliation bill makes the largest health care cuts in American history, slashing more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The bill also gives Big Pharma a multibillion dollar handout that shields them from efforts to lower the cost of cancer treatments and defunds Planned Parenthood, so fewer women can receive preventive care like screening for breast cancer.

Medicaid currently covers one in three children diagnosed with cancer, and the ACA's enhanced premium tax credits support more than 500,000 adults with cancer. Republicans refused to extend these tax credits in their partisan tax bill, meaning patients with cancer face catastrophic premium spikes this open enrollment. If Republicans don't act soon, premiums will double.

1. Republicans' actions have caused immediate harm. All patients, and particularly children, veterans, 9/11 responders and survivors, and immigrants are losing or facing delays in accessing lifesaving cancer treatments. Trump and Kennedy have hindered cancer research into new treatment and preventive options by terminating National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants, freezing the funds of higher education institutions, and pulling back U.S. relationships with global partners such as the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, the Trump administration has fired cancer researchers and workers who create and share treatment options, and made it harder for Americans with cancer to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

2. Trump and Republicans have also caused long-term harm. The loss of health care coverage will lead to delays in cancer diagnoses, more expensive treatment options, and a greater likelihood of death for cancer patients. Seniors enrolled in Medicare will be forced to pay higher prices for their medications, while taxpayers will lose savings due to the bailouts Republicans gave Big Pharma to avoid Medicare negotiation. America risks losing its position as a world leader in progressing cancer research as a result of Trump's and Republicans' actions.

Read more here.

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