The Us Presidential Election's High Stakes for the Future of Medicine
The US Presidential Election’s High Stakes for the Future of Medicine. JAMA. 2024;332(17):1421–1422. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.19952
Posted: 28 Apr 2025
Date Written: September 20, 2024
Abstract
The November 2024 US presidential election carries enormous stakes for the future of medicine and the health of the nation. The 2 parties’ platforms, and the policies driving their commitments, reflect vastly different perspectives on regulatory competence, deference to scientific expertise, and the value of medical care. The Democratic Party Platform includes dozens of pages of health reform proposals.1 The Republican Party Platform includes a few sentences on health care–related issues.2 However, the specifics may be found within a policy “playbook” published by Project 2025 outlining a “comprehensive, concrete transition plan for each federal agency,” with action items for the first 180 days of a Republican administration.3 Far from prioritizing “the health and well-being of all Americans at all stages of life,” as Project 2025 claims, the playbook presents an antiscience, antidata, and antimedicine agenda.
Keywords: regulation, licensure, medicine, health care, Project 2025, reproductive rights, ACA
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