The current Republican administration has changed the country’s course when it comes to healthcare. Progressives and liberals are, predictably, dismayed. But even many of the anti-vax MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) moms in my mom groups, who cheered with the appointment of RFK Jr. as a champion of their anti-vax cause, are expressing deep concerns over the Trump administration’s rollbacks of regulations that protect our environment and children from toxic chemicals, lead poisoning and more.
For Washtenaw County families, how will the current administration impact the health of our children? Let’s look at Medicaid, vaccines and environmental concerns for our local families.
Medicaid
Over 20% of Washtenaw County residents are on Medicaid.
The Republican administration just eliminated an office that helps determine people’s eligibility for Medicaid. The proposed budget resolution, passed by the GOP last month, would cut $880 billion from the portion of the budget that funds Medicaid — making cuts to Medicaid itself guaranteed.
Cuts to healthcare, like Medicaid, have been shown to cause crimes to increase. Healthcare has been linked, over and over, to public safety and reduced crime.
Our source, N, a speech language pathologist (who requested anonymity), said that their largest concern about healthcare for children regards making Medicaid services accessible.
“Children may not have the same access to certain healthcare services, like OT, PT, or SLP therapies that can affect all functional abilities. I know many families who are worried about upcoming potential changes,” N said.
With 1 in 5 Washtenaw residents on Medicaid, threatening this program is threatening the wellbeing of so many of our families.
Vaccines
Vaccines are largely viewed as a critical part of public health, helping prevent or reduce the burden of contagious diseases for millions of people in America.
Childhood vaccines — specifically the vaccines against measles, tuberculosis, whooping cough and tetanus — are estimated to have saved 154 million lives in the past fifty years.
But President Trump personally has supported anti-vaccine misinformation and appointed RFK Jr. (who routinely opposes immunizations and erodes trust in science) as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) — a hugely influential organization that manages almost 25% of the federal budget.
RELATED: Trump’s Executive Order to Abolish Education Department Faces Local Concerns
If RFK Jr. has his way, people will start avoiding vaccines, mistrust public health initiatives and steer research toward fringe beliefs.
Emily B, a first-time mom and a NICU RN, tells us, “I think that RFK is spreading fear and is using that as a form of control. Protecting your child is a scary job and everyone wants to do their very best.”
These policies have already negatively impacted Washtenaw County residents. Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, filed a lawsuit against RFK Jr. and HHS for terminating $379.3 million in grant funding already awarded to the state of Michigan.
Emily B. said, “I wish people knew that vaccines are how we keep each other safe — from my child to the immunocompromised, vulnerable patients I care for. Vaccines are safe and effective and the best chance at protecting our children from communicable diseases — like measles.”
She points out that some people cannot be vaccinated due to their health status, which makes herd immunity (when other people are fully vaccinated) even more critical.
“Healthcare workers everywhere beg you to get vaccinated so we don’t have to care for patients with measles, COVID, whooping cough,” Emily B. said.
The Washtenaw County Health department offers a variety of information to help support families getting vaccinated, including vaccine appointments and fees, fact sheets and more.
Environment
In only a few months, the environmental impact of Trump’s administration has been breathtaking and devastating.
Ann Arbor and Ypsi families care deeply about taking care of our environment and being conscious consumers. As Michiganders, blessed with the largest freshwater system on Earth, we take protecting our water seriously!
But Trump has issued executive orders that will directly lead to polluting our water, dirtying our air, and hurting our world by expanding oil and gas production, pulling the U. S. out of the Paris Agreement, not protecting the Endangered Species Act, and eliminating environmental justice.
He’s already impacted Michigan directly. $40 million in funds for environmental projects for Michigan was ‘accidentally’ canceled.
Trump’s administration’s proposed cuts and actions will be devastating for the Great Lakes–for example:
1. DOGE cut the sea lamprey control unit, which will devastate the $7 billion Great Lakes fishing industry of 75,000 because sea lampreys kill native fish.
2. The cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) threaten our drinking water. The NOAA protects our water from toxic algae blooms that wastewater treatment plants cannot effectively treat.
3. Trump’s administration wants to cut 675 out of 1,035 Michigan workers who work in the EPA.
4. Hurting our relationship with Canada will hurt our international management of the Great Lakes and will damage the environment, tourism industries, shipping and fishing.
And — in a cause very close to my heart, if you’ve read our lead poisoning series that was inspired by the lead poisoning of my triplet toddlers — the CDC division that handles lead poisoning has been effectively completely eliminated.
Milwaukee’s schools are experiencing a lead crisis. Their schools have tested positive for lead, and they reached out to the CDC for resources to remediate the lead and help the students heal — only to be told all the resources that once could have helped them have been shut down by Trump’s administration.
Michigan is the 3rd highest state in the nation for lead exposure in our children. 78% of our children who have tested have measurable amounts of lead in their blood. Around 60% of homes in Washtenaw County are at risk (age-wise) for containing lead. Losing all federal lead poisoning resources is devastating for all children, including ours.
Emily B. echoes my own opinion when she says, “The current administration does not care about your family. They care about power and control. They have proven that, time and again, once your child leaves the womb, its life does not matter to them.”
I asked her if she thought there was any positive impact, in any healthcare area, the Trump administration might have.
“Unfortunately,” Emily said, “I do not see them having a positive impact on public health, just setbacks. For women and children especially.”
A sobering realization–but perhaps one that can spur us to action.
Write your Congress people to make your voice heard! (Resistbot is a fantastic way to send a letter in only a couple of minutes.)
Or call them. (5Calls does all the work for you–just pick the issue important to you and it gives you a script and your Congress members’ phone numbers.)
