In Seattle, Senator Murray Convenes Health Leaders, Doctors to Discuss Trump and Republicans’ Wide-Ranging Attacks on Americans’ Health Care

ICYMI: Senator Murray Calls for Inspector General Investigation into RFK Jr.'s Ousting of Top CDC Officials and Restrictions on Vaccine Access

ICYMI: In Response to Murray Questioning at HELP, Former CDC Director Says She Would Be "Very Nervous" to Tell Parents to Trust Recommendations From New ACIP Panel

***VIDEO OF FULL EVENT HERE; PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***

Seattle, WA - Today,U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a roundtable discussion with doctors, researchers, and health care leaders in Washington state to discuss the many ways President Trump and Republicans are attacking Americans' health care-from cutting Medicaid by the largest amount in history, to letting Americans' premiums skyrocket by refusing to extend critical health care tax credits for middle-class families, to restricting access to vaccines and canceling critical medical research, among many other unprecedented attacks on science and expertise across our nation's public health agencies.

On Friday, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)-newly stacked with RFK Jr.'s handpicked vaccine skeptics-voted to further restrict access to the COVID-19 vaccine and to no longer recommend a combined shot for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella for children under age 4, recommendations that public health experts warn are not based in science.

Joining Senator Murray at the roundtable discussion were: Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, State Health Officer at the Washington State Department of Health (DOH); Ingrid Ulrey, CEO of WA Health Benefit Exchange; John Lynch, Associate Chief Medical Officer, Harborview Medical Center, UW Medicine; Esther Lucero, President & CEO of the Seattle Indian Health Board; and Abigail Echo-Hawk, Director of the Urban Indian Health Institute and Executive Vice President of the Seattle Indian Health Board.

"President Trump and Republicans are waging an all-out assault on your health care," Senator Murray said. "Republicans have gutted Medicaid, they are already forcing our hospitals to begin laying off staff and reducing services. Republicans are refusing to lift a finger to stop health care premiums from skyrocketing and RFK Jr. has waged a ceaseless war on science and common sense, decimating lifesaving research while also doing everything in his power to undermine vaccines. Right now, Democrats are trying to force the conversation on health care, but Republicans are refusing to even discuss it. I'm raising the alarm, pushing back, and fighting every way I can to stop this health care sabotage."

"For decades, Washington state has worked together with federal agencies like the CDC to ensure our residents receive the best possible health guidance. This partnership has been built on shared scientific principles, transparent data review, and evidence-based recommendations that have saved countless lives. That foundation is now being systematically dismantled," said Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, State Health Officer, DOH. "The dismissal of CDC scientists, the removal of the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and policy shifts without input from subject matter experts have created unprecedented instability. We're seeing the first clear departures from science-based policy-and more are expected. Just last week, ACIP issued recommendations on childhood vaccines that presented no new safety data to justify limiting parental choice and access. These changes disproportionately affect our most vulnerable children-those who receive vaccines through the federal Vaccines for Children program. When federal agencies can no longer be relied upon to follow the science, states must step up. That's exactly what Washington has done… We and other West Coast Health Alliance states are committed to ensuring that communities get the best protection available against vaccine-preventable diseases, and to providing consistent, evidence-based information to help families make informed decisions in a time of federal uncertainty."

"Congressional action is urgently needed to protect Washingtonians from price hikes," said Ingrid Ulrey, CEO of WA Health Benefit Exchange. "If Congress allows the enhanced premium tax credits to expire at the end of this year, more than 200,000 Washingtonians could face steep premium increases, and over time, many will choose to drop coverage altogether. People in rural areas, those who are self-employed or work for small businesses and older adults not yet eligible for Medicare will be most impacted."

"Vaccines and the CDC's historical vaccine recommendations have kept babies, pregnant individuals, people who are immunocompromised, and adults of all ages, especially those who are older, safe from many preventable infectious diseases," said John Lynch, Associate Chief Medical Officer at Harborview Medical Center, UW Medicine. "Vaccines eradicated smallpox and, for much of the world, ended plagues that permanently harmed or killed millions of people. Going backwards on these successes will lead only to more Americans suffering and dying. What we are seeing today is the acceleration of an effort to discredit everything that is amazing about vaccinations and to create confusion about who, when, and where a person can get vaccinated. And how vaccines are paid for. Last week's ACIP meeting is an example of how misinformation is contributing to this acceleration. It is important, now more than ever, to go back to what the science shows about the effectiveness and safety of these life-saving tools to keep our families and communities safe."

"Everything we do is rooted in our love for our people-whether it's providing meals for elders, supporting mothers and children, or caring for those living with substance use disorder," said Esther Lucero (Diné), president and CEO of the Seattle Indian Health Board. "I dread the day I'll have to look a relative in the eye and say, 'we can't help you in that way anymore.' I am committed to doing everything I can to prevent that day, but I'm going to need support from those shaping funding and the future of public health."

"We know that American Indian Alaska Native children are more likely to be hospitalized and die as a result of RSV, and yet we're continuing to see the research on RSV and access to vaccines. We also know that Native people overall have very low rates of vaccination, and we're seeing-as a result of the rhetoric going on right now that is focused on politics and not on science-that that is increasing native people and their hesitancy on getting vaccinated" said Abigail Echo-Hawk, Director of the Urban Indian Health Institute and Executive Vice President of the Seattle Indian Health Board. "Our Tribal Epidemiology Center, the Urban Indian Health Institute, is doing what the federal government right now-honestly-just isn't doing. We just launched a campaign last week in cities across the United States with urban Indian health organizations that is promoting vaccines… We are providing the only resources culturally tailored for American Indian Alaska Native youth to understand about vaccines and to trust not only the science but the words of their communities. We are leading where other folks are faltering."

Senator Murray, a longtime congressional leader on health care who has led hearings on addressing vaccine hesitancy, has been a leader in raising the alarm over RFK Jr.'s nomination and handling of HHS since the beginning-speaking out on the Senate floor, holding numerous events, raising the alarm after meeting with him, and hammering the threat he poses to Americans' health nonstop. She led the opposition to the Trump administration's disastrous plan to dismantle HHS and fire tens of thousands of staff in critical positions across CDC, NIH, FDA, and other agencies, and spoke out forcefully against RFK Jr.'s ousting of the entire CDC vaccine advisory board, including one ACIP member from Washington state.

Murray has held countless events across Washington state and in Washington, D.C. with doctors, patients, and former HHS officials to lift up how Trump and Republicans' attacks on health care will be devastating for families.

Senator Murray recently took to the Senate floor to reiterate her call for RFK Jr. to be fired immediately; she also praised the launch of the West Coast Health Alliance to provide evidence-based public health guidance for Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii. Senator Murray called for RFK Jr. to testify publicly before the HELP Committee and for Director Monarez to be given the opportunity to testify publicly alongside other former senior CDC officials. Earlier this month, Murray held a virtual press conference with Washington state health leaders on RFK Jr.'s increasingly dangerous attacks on vaccines and America's public health infrastructure and announced that she will be calling for an Inspector General investigation into the ousting of top officials at CDC and new restrictions on vaccine access.

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