‘Go wild.’ 60 days of healthcare under Trump

Modern Healthcare – Friday, March 21, 2025
By Bridget Early

Late in his successful bid to reclaim the White House last year, Donald Trump said his soon-to-be Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would “go wild on health.”

The president didn’t wait for Kennedy’s confirmation to get started.

The second Trump administration hit the 60-day mark on Friday. Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the White House’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” have taken an ax to the Health and Human Services Department and the rest of the federal government.

Trump also has reversed myriad policies from President Joe Biden’s administration, particularly those related to LGBTQ+ health and diversity, equity and inclusion.

The action has come at a torrid pace, whipsawing the healthcare sector. Although the administration has yet to make major changes to programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, the first two months of the new Trump presidency has brought significant disruption to the nation’s healthcare and public health infrastructure.

JANUARY  

20 | Trump inaugurated for second term.

Trump issues executive orders rescinding dozens of Biden policies and instituting new ones. That includes rolling back COVID-19 and public health executive orders; canceling health insurance exchange special enrollment periods; scrapping a Medicare drug pricing model; withdrawing a framework for artificial intelligence regulation; and requiring federal agencies to use the term “sex” instead of “gender.”

Trump withdraws the U.S. from the World Health Organization.

Trump institutes a freeze on new federal regulations.

Homeland Security Department authorizes Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enter hospitals and detain undocumented immigrant patients.

21 | White House freezes external communications from HHS.

22 | Kennedy releases financial disclosures.

National Institutes of Health cancels dozens of public meetings on subjects such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria and health information technology.

28 | HHS imposes spending freeze.

White House issues memo encouraging federal employees to accept buyouts to vacate their jobs.

Trump signs executive order threatening to remove providers from Medicare and Medicaid and cut off research and educational funding if they offer gender-affirming care for patients under 19 years old.

29 | Senate Finance Committee holds confirmation hearing on Kennedy.

30 | Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee holds hearing on Kennedy.

Kennedy refuses to deny that vaccines cause autism.

31 | Trump issues executive order directing federal agencies to repeal 10 regulations for each new one proposed.

Justice Department files brief to continue defense of Biden-era Medicare Advantage marketing regulations.

FEBRUARY  

3 | Trump executive order deletes swathes of federal data, including NIH and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research findings, on LGBTQ+ health.

4 | Senate Finance Committee recommends Kennedy be confirmed as HHS secretary.

Trump levies tariffs on products from Canada, Mexico and China.

“Department of Government Efficiency” visits the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to access Medicare and Medicaid payment and contracting systems.

7 | Justice Department asks U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to dismiss a Humana lawsuit challenging its Medicare Advantage star ratings or to issue a summary judgment in the government’s favor.

NIH caps funding for indirect research costs at 15% of grants.

13 | Senate confirms Kennedy as HHS secretary.

15 | Layoffs begin across HHS, including at CMS, the CDC, the NIH and the Food and Drug Administration.

 HHS fires thousands of probationary employees.

18 | Kennedy says HHS will create a “Make America Healthy Again” commission to weigh changes to the childhood vaccination schedule.

19 | Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s nominee for CMS administrator, releases financial disclosures.

HHS implements Trump order declaring female and male are the only genders.

22 | Trump appoints Better Medicare Alliance executive Don Dempsey as associate director for health at the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Musk emails federal employees demanding they submit accounts of their activities to their managers and the White House or be terminated.

25 | Trump issues executive order on hospital price transparency.

House approves Trump-backed budget resolution that would cut up to $880 billion from Medicaid.

26 | Justice Department asks U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas for an extension to continue its defense against a Humana lawsuit objecting to Biden’s Medicare Advantage risk-adjustment policies.

28 | HHS announces it will cease providing public notice or accepting public input on many new policies.

FDA cancels expert commission meeting on identifying influenza strains for vaccine development.

Office of Personnel Management renews demand that federal employees report their activities.

MARCH  

3 | HHS employees offered early retirement.

4 | CMS rescinds guidance on how states may cover health-related social needs through Medicaid.

Justice Department states it will drop its legal defense of a Biden policy that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 requires hospitals to provide emergency abortions to preserve the life and health of pregnant patients, even in states with strict abortion laws.

5 | Senate HELP Committee holds confirmation hearing on Dr. Jay Bhattacharya’s nomination to be NIH director.

6 | “Department of Government Efficiency” terminates contract to build a new Medicare provider enrollment system and takes over the project.

Senate HELP Committee holds hearing on Dr. Marty Makary’s nomination to be FDA commissioner.

7 | All 80,000 HHS employees offered $25,000 buyouts to quit their jobs.

HHS launches investigation into DEI programs at medical schools and teaching hospitals.

CMS cancels open door forums for physicians, nurses, hospitals and skilled nursing facilities.

10 | CMS proposes shortening health insurance exchanges enrollment period.

11 | Kennedy falsely says measles is not fatal for children and that the measles vaccine is responsible for deaths instead.

Kennedy advises parents give children cod liver oil and vitamin A to treat the measles.

Kennedy recommends allowing avian flu to spread through poultry farms unchecked.

HHS restructures Office of General Counsel and eliminates six of 10 regional offices.

12 | CMS cancels four Medicare value-based payment demonstrations ahead of schedule.

13 | Trump withdraws nomination of former Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) to be CDC director.

Senate HELP Committee recommends Bhattacharya and Makary be confirmed.

CMS indefinitely postpones 2025 CMS Conference for Building a Healthier America.

14 | Senate Finance Committee holds confirmation hearing on Oz.

Oz vows to crack down on Medicare Advantage fraud, declines to oppose Medicaid cuts.

FDA approves 2025-26 flu vaccine recommendations without input from independent expert committee.

17 | HHS cancels gun violence public health advisory.

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