Trump made sweeping health care changes in first week

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President Donald Trump kicked off the primary week of his second term with sweeping changes to U.S. health care and federal health agencies. 

Listed below are just a few of the largest changes we saw last week:

U.S. exit from the WHO

Trump signed an executive order to begin to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization, citing what he described as a “mishandling” of the Covid-19 pandemic and other international health crises. In 2021, the Biden administration halted Trump’s first formal attempt at a U.S. exit from the WHO. 

The implications for the U.S. might be significant: the WHO serves as a primary alert system when a latest disease outbreak occurs, which helps member countries quickly obtain the essential information to assist their residents. The U.S. can also be expected to lose access to the WHO’s global network that sets the flu vaccine’s composition every year. However the WHO will feel the consequences of Trump’s decision much more, because the U.S. is its largest donor and offers extensive technical expertise to the agency. 

On Saturday, nevertheless, Trump said he may reconsider joining the WHO. 

“Possibly we might consider doing it again, I do not know. Possibly we might. They’d should clean it up,” Trump said at a rally in Las Vegas, based on several outlets. 

Anti-abortion policies reinstated

Trump on Friday issued an executive order that reinstated a long-standing Republican anti-abortion proposal often called the “Mexico City Policy,” which bars federal fundi

ng from going to any overseas nongovernmental organization that performs or promotes abortions.

The rule was first put in place by President Ronald Reagan and has been rescinded by every Democratic president — and reimplemented by every Republican one — since then.

Also on Friday, Trump revoked two Biden administration executive orders that sought to expand access to abortions within the U.S.

HHS stop all communications 

The Trump administration told federal health agencies to pause external communications for now, several outlets reported last week. This includes the agencies that fall under the Department of Health and Human Services, akin to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

A memo sent to leadership at federal health agencies noted the communication hiatus will extend through Feb. 1, ABC News reported, citing an internal CDC audio recording. 

Resources from the department, akin to the CDC’s decades-old weekly public health publication, have been placed on hold. 

Some staffers at health agencies are also temporarily banned from traveling and have been told to stop work with the WHO, ABC reported. 

Drug pricing models rescinded 

Trump rescinded an executive order from the Biden administration that created three drug pricing models geared toward lowering the price of prescribed drugs for people on Medicare and Medicaid. 

The Biden administration announced the proposals in February 2023, but that they had not been implemented. They included a $2 monthly out-of-pocket cap on certain generic drugs and lower costs for cell and gene therapies. 

Biden’s major health-care initiatives under the Inflation Reduction Act, including the $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap on prescribed drugs and the Medicare drug price negotiation program, weren’t affected by Trump’s executive actions.

DEI, discrimination protections scrapped

Trump issued an executive order on his first day to finish all federal government initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion. He also moved to finish a spread of policies that aimed to guard rights for LGBTQ+ people.

Trump specifically signed an executive order proclaiming that the U.S. government will recognize only two sexes, female and male. It essentially attempts to finish legal recognition of transgender and nonbinary people under federal law.

It requires that the federal government use the term “sex” as a substitute of “gender,” and directs the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to “require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holder’s sex.”

In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union said the gender order requires federal agencies to “discriminate against transgender people by denying who they’re and threatening the liberty of self-determination and self-expression for all.” 

Be happy to send any suggestions, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.

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