The American Public Health Association (APHA) is warning that tax legislation approved by Congress “will create a dangerous environment for public health in which millions fewer Americans are insured, key health programs and agencies are desperately underfunded and income inequality is dramatically worsened.”
In a statement, the APHA said the legislations’s repeal of the individual health insurance mandate will cause deep automatic cuts to key health programs like Medicare and the Prevention and Public Health Fund. The organization is urging Congress to immediately waive the automatic spending cuts created by the bill in order to protect the federal government’s ability to respond to and prevent threats to public health.