Republican lawmakers have proposed legislation to keep itself from shutting down. The original package was supposed to contain a sizable number of healthcare policies, including increasing the pay for doctors. However, the new package has been stripped down and excluded important funding, including those for pediatric cancer measures.
The bipartisan plan negotiated between House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, and Democrats in both chambers was 1,500 pages. Elon Musk, Donald Trump's "first buddy" and the government's "efficiency" adviser, rejected the funding proposal, putting the government at risk of defaulting and shutting down.
As a result, the GOP has put forth a new, smaller proposal that would cut funding from important initiatives, including $190 million for the Gabriella Miller Kids First child cancer research program.
What Is the Cancer Research Program All About?
The Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act was named after a 10-year-old girl in Virginia who passed away due to an inoperable brain tumor. The initiative was established under the Obama administration with the aim of uncovering the causes of childhood cancers and structural congenital anomalies, as well as exploring whether there is a shared genetic pathway between pediatric cancers and structural birth defects.
The GOP's funding bill does not include any funding for the program, which would have received $170 million in the original package. The new language also abandoned the reauthorization of the program for another seven years.
What Other Pediatric Health Care Measures Were Cut?
In addition to cutting funding for the Gabriella Miller program, the GOP bill also dropped:
- Funding for a program that would allow children with cancer covered by Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to undergo out-of-state medical treatment.
- Funding for childhood cancer research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Funding for premature labor research
- Funding for sickle cell disease treatment
- Funding for treatments involving combinations of cancer medications and therapies for children with relapsed cancer
- Extension of a program providing financial support through vouchers to small pharmaceutical companies focusing on rare pediatric disorders
- Program for research into Down syndrome
