GOP TrumpCare: ACA Repeal Would Mean Massive Cuts to Public Health, Leaving Cities and States At Risk

“Without a comparable replacement, or appropriation of additional funds, at least $3 billion will be cut from state and local public health departments alone over the next five years through funds allocated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An additional $2 billion in federal resources would be lost to a number of other prevention-oriented activities across the entire public health enterprise. This $5 billion is essential to core public health programs that keep Americans healthy and safe every day and makes up 12 percent of CDC’s annual budget, supporting disease tracking, access to immunizations for those most in need, and preventing and addressing lead poisoning, among other priorities.”

GOP TrumpCare: More Disease, More Injuries, More Preventable Deaths

“The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would lose 12 percent of its annual budget if the Prevention and Public Health Fund, part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), were repealed, according to an analysis by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH). States would end up losing more than $3 billion over the next five years – from grants and programs supported by the Prevention Fund. The $890 million gap in CDC’s annual funding created by eliminating the Prevention Fund could not be filled under current laws without drawing funds away from other Department of Labor, Education and Health and Human Services programs.” Bottomline: more disease, more injuries, more preventable deaths. 

Donald Trump’s Conflicts of Interest: A Crib Sheet

“President Donald Trump still has not taken the necessary steps to distance himself from his businesses while in office. In accordance with a plan that he and one of his lawyers, Sheri Dillon, laid out at a press conference on January, Trump has filed paperwork to remove himself from the day-to-day operation of his eponymous organization. However, numerous ethics experts have voiced strenuous objections to the plan, which they say does very little to resolve the issue: As long as Trump continues to profit from his business empire—which he does whether or not he is nominally in charge—they say, the possibility that outside actors will attempt to affect his policies by plumping up his pocketbook will remain very much in play.”