ACR shares guidance to help members deal with confusing White House executive orders
A string of rapid-fire executive orders from President Donald Trump have created serious concerns among radiologists and other healthcare providers throughout the United States.
The situation prompted the American College of Radiology (ACR) to issue a short press release Jan. 29, to offer possible answers for members seeking information from government sources.
ACR said it wanted to be proactive amid the news reports and statements from the White House, and directed ACR members directly to White House website press links, suggesting they might be able to find answers there. ACR said it would update members with additional information as it becomes available.
One link is to the question and answer sheet on the Jan. 27 memorandum from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requiring federal agencies to identify and review all federal financial assistance programs that are inconsistent with the president’s policies and requirements. This letter directed federal agencies to identify funding for programs that are against Trump's policies in order to suspend them. Another link is to the transcript of the Jan. 29 White House press briefing where Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt attempted to clarify the president's actions.
The federal funding pause went into effect at 5 p.m. ET Jan. 28, which coincided with the shutdown of the Medicaid reimbursement portals in all 50 states. Leavitt posted on her X account that the White House was aware of the portal outage. The website was later restored.
"We have confirmed no payments have been affected—they are still being processed and sent. We expect the portal will be back online shortly," she stated.
But the the question of why the government's Medicare payment website went down when the Trump policy was to go into effect remains. The OMB memo states the pause in funding was not supposed to impact Medicare benefits, or any assistance provided directly to individuals. These points were reiterated repeatedly by Leavitt at the press briefing.
A federal judge temporarily blocked part of the administration’s plan to freeze federal funding on Jan. 28. There are also reports of numerous states that planned to file additional lawsuits to block the measure.
On Wednesday, Jan 29, the OMB rescinded its memorandum that froze federal grants and loans, but Leavitt stressed in an X post that this was not a rescission of Trump's federal funding freeze executive order. "It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court's injunction. The President's EO's on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented," she stated.
Democrats in Congress denounced the executive order and the shut down of the Medicaid portals.
"My staff has confirmed reports that Medicaid portals are down in all 50 states following last night's federal funding freeze. This is a blatant attempt to rip away health insurance from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed," stated Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) in a statement on his X account.
When the websites were restored, the temporary block on the executive order was announced, and Leavitt posted her comments about the federal freeze not being rescinded, Wyden posted again. "I'm not breathing a sigh of relief. This chaos and confusion is standard operating procedure under a Trump presidency," he said on his X account.
Wyden also noted the confusion sown in the Jan. 29 confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick to become the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Wyden and other Democrats grilled RFK on his changing stance on vaccines and abortion. RFK started out the hearing stating he was not anti-vax, which led to an outcry by a person in the crowd who officers had to pull out of the Senate chambers.
Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: dfornell@innovatehealthcare.com