Dysfunction at the FDA, NIH, Elsewhere | Predictions for 2025

The government’s role in impacting healthcare will be huge in 2025. The Trump administration’s primary objective is focused on undoing the work of previous administrations. They will disrupt healthcare delivery and financing by having people in leadership positions driven by politics and ideology who are not knowledgeable about and committed to the importance of evidence-based science and equitable social policy in advancing and regulating healthcare. HHS, the CDC, the FDA and the National Institutes of Health will lose considerable expertise and become dysfunctional.

Cohen

Access to healthcare will decrease due to undermining or eliminating the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Decreased funding for Medicaid will mean tighter requirements for enrollees. The tightening will be more severe in red states.

Quality of healthcare will decrease due to political and ideology-driven policy at both the federal and state levels due to the changes in Congress and at HHS and the impact of the Supreme Court’s Chevron decision. The out-of-pocket cost of healthcare will skyrocket for patients due to reductions in the ACA, Medicaid and cheap versions of health insurance with limited coverage. Medicare will prioritize Medicare Advantage plans over fee-for-service care, and for-profit healthcare companies will be the beneficiary.