Editorial: An Opinion on Current Actions of our Federal Government

By the MMA Board of Directors

The Maine Medical Association (MMA) represents more than 4,000 physicians, residents, and medical students. Our mission is to support physicians, advance the quality of medicine, and promote the health of all Maine people. Accordingly, we wish to express our opposition to the recent initiatives by the federal government that have undone decades of commitment to better health for this country. We also oppose our withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) – two organizations that promote health care throughout the world and, ultimately, protect Americans. To make things worse, Congress is now considering a major cutback in funding for Medicaid and health insurance subsidies through the Affordable Care Act.

USAID was created by President Kennedy to aid developing countries in times of famine, treat diseases such as malaria and HIV, and represent the interests of the United States.^[1] The programs of USAID have had bipartisan support in the past, one of the most successful is the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief (PRPFAR), established by George W. Bush. The WHO’s primary mission is to help prevent and mitigate pandemics such as COVID-19, SARS, and the Ebola virus.^[2]  Elimination of these programs causes not only unnecessary disease and deaths – it diminishes our standing in the international community and puts Americans at risk.

The President’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative is now taking aim at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), our primary resource for medical information and disease prevention. This department has been ordered to cease publications and notifications to the public, is facing large budget cuts, and has suffered mass terminations of employees. Some of these last firings were rescinded, but the damage was done.^[3]

This Administration has attempted to freeze funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for medical research, including clinical trials for cancer treatment. Proposed budget cuts would hamper, or even eliminate, important research and prevent the next medical breakthrough.^[4]

These measures show outright malice towards medical professionals who are dedicated to public health and put every American at risk. The appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a vaccine skeptic and a purveyor of unsubstantiated medical misinformation, as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (US DHHS) only makes this situation worse.^[5]

Congress is now contemplating deep cuts to Medicaid, which could result in a 42% increase in Maine’s uninsured population, it would take an 11% increase in MaineCare spending to maintain present levels of coverage. This is unrealistic and would impact the most vulnerable of our people —pregnant women, children, and the elderly. ^[6]Maine has the oldest population and one of the poorest and most rural in the nation. ^[7]  This potential loss of access to care will lead to increased preventable deaths and disability and may cause closures of our rural hospitals.^[8]

These proposals by our present Administration and Congress would result in a serious setback to our health as a nation and will lead to a diminution in our country’s standing as a leader in medical research and provider of international medical care. The MMA will continue to support medical research and the scientific method, promote public health, and inform the public. We urge all Mainers to speak up for medical care by contacting your elected representatives and voting for candidates who will protect and improve our health care system.

Approved by the MMA Board of Directors on March 5, 2025.

For more information on how we can improve our health care system, see our 2023 Statement on Reform of the U.S. Health Care System  https://mainephysicians.org/advocacy/policy-statements/

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[1] https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/the-outlook-for-pepfar-in-2025-and-beyond/#:~:text=The%20Potential%20Dismantling%20of%20USAID.&text=In%20FY%202023%2C%2060%25%20of,change%20stands%20to%20impact%20programming.

[2] https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-u-s-government-and-the-world-health-organization/#:~:text=providing%20technical%20assistance%20to%20countries,advocating%20for%20better%20global%20health.

[3] https://time.com/7222251/doge-musk-federal-workers-government/

[4] https://www.lathamreg.com/2025/03/the-nih-funding-cuts-implications-and-status-of-lawsuits/

[5] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)02603-5/fulltext

[6] https://www.mecep.org/blog/proposed-medicaid-cuts-put-maine-families-incomes-at-risk/

[7]https://subjectguides.lib.neu.edu/ruralhealth/maine#:~:text=About%20Maine,and%20other%20Maine%20specific%20content.&text=Maine%20is%20considered%20the%20most,is%20almost%20completely%20uninhabited…

[8] https://www.ruralhealth.us/nationalruralhealth/media/documents/advocacy/medicaid-cuts-one-pager-(1).pdf#:~:text=Rural%20hospitals%20are%20the%20largest%20employers%20in,of%20whom%20already%20struggle%20with%20financial%20instability.