Health policies under Trump
BMJ 2024; 387 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q2587 (Published 21 November 2024) Cite this as: BMJ 2024;387:q2587
- Ezekiel J Emanuel, professor,
- Merjan Lijerón Ozisik, researcher
- Healthcare Transformation Institute, Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Correspondence to: E J Emanuel zemanuel{at}upenn.edu
The second term of office of US president elect Donald Trump looks set to be characterised by loss of influence of scientific and medical expertise. Scepticism and hostility to expertise portend poorly for policies on vaccines, health insurance coverage, Medicaid, and female reproductive rights.
Trump’s choices of staff for the new administration is a case in point. Robert F Kennedy Jr, nominated as health secretary,1 has displayed ignorance of how science and medicine work, hostility to vaccination, a penchant for spreading misinformation, ignorance of how Medicare and Medicaid—the government’s main health programmes— operate, and has no management experience or knowledge to lead a department with a $1.8tn (£1.4tn; €1.7tn) budget and 80 000 employees.23 These deficiencies are …
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