Former Obama administration officials blast Trump's proposed health budget cuts
The Trump administration's proposed 2018 budget cuts billions from public health and biomedical research programs.
The budget, which was posted Monday and later taken down, takes drastic spending cuts to agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services. Almost immediately, the proposed budget drew criticism, including from former heads of those agencies.
Here are some of the biggest cuts the agencies within the HHS are facing:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - 17%
The CDC, which is in charge of public health and disease prevention, would see its budget cut by $1.2 billion. Dr. Tom Frieden, who was director of the agency until 2017, went off on the proposed cuts on Twitter on Monday, saying Americans would be "less safe," and that the cuts "would increase illness, death, risks to Americans, and health care costs."
He then outlined the direct impact the cuts would have on CDC's programs, including to emergency preparedness programs and immunizations.
Food and Drug Administration - 31%
The FDA, which is responsible for regulating food and drugs, along with medical devices, blood donations, veterinary products, and cosmetics, is getting its direct budget slashed, though its making up for it with user fees.
The budget does cut the direct funding to the FDA by 31%, though the agency will end up receiving more from user fees that companies have to pay to get their drugs vetted, which will end up increasing its budget.
Robert Califf, who served as FDA commissioner under President Barack Obama, opposed any budget cuts in a tweet prior to the budget's release.
Medicaid - $610 billion over the next decade
Medicaid, the national and state program that covers low-income people, could see its budget cut by $610 billion over the next 10 years under the proposed budget.
Andy Slavitt, the former head of Medicare and Medicaid under the Obama administration, called the move an "assault on poor & disabled" in a tweet.
National Institutes of Health - 18% cut
The proposed budget outlines an 18%(or about $5.8 billion) cut to the NIH, which funds biomedical research, including cancer research. A number of organizations came out against the cuts
A group of medical schools, patient organizations, and doctors spoke out against the cut, instead asking Congress to increase the NIH's budget by $2 billion in a full-page ad in Politico and the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
And Republican Rep. Tom Cole told Vox that cutting research would be "penny wise and pound foolish."
"You hurt your ability to deal with disease in your country - and disease is enormously expensive not just for individuals but society in general," Cole said.
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