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Responds to appointment of RFK Jr. as HHS secretary, postponement of vaccine advisory committee meeting

March 7, 2025 (ACP) -- With the appointment of new health agency leaders and other federal changes that affect health care, the �������ý is open to working with the Trump administration to advocate for patients and physicians.

“We're seeking common ground, and we'll work with the administration to achieve our goals whenever possible,” said Shari Erickson, ACP chief advocacy officer and senior vice president of governmental affairs and public policy. “At the same time, we will always stand up for ACP values, priorities and policies.”

In a Feb. 18 letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ACP President Dr. Isaac O. Opole wrote that ACP “stands ready to work with you to strengthen and improve the health and well-being of all Americans and support the physician and health care workforce caring for them.”

Kennedy has said preventing chronic disease is a top priority, and the letter highlighted the role that primary care can play in this effort: “Internal medicine physicians are at the frontline for coordinating and managing patients' overall care, particularly for those with multiple complex chronic conditions.”

As Erickson explained, “better availability of primary care improves outcomes and relieves the burden of chronic disease.”

Unfortunately, the letter pointed out, patient care is threatened in part because the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule fails to provide internal medicine physicians with the resources to keep up with rising expenses and the cost of caring for patients. Another obstacle is the growing shortage of primary care physicians.

“The secretary's priorities should be aligned with the resolution of these issues,” Erickson said.

The letter also highlights the administrative burden facing physicians. “We worked quite successfully with the prior Trump administration regarding this topic, and we'd like to continue working on this with the new administration,” Erickson noted.

ACP's letter also emphasized the importance of vaccines and a strong public health infrastructure, particularly in light of the ongoing measles outbreak. ACP urged Kennedy to “renew efforts to utilize the strongest evidence to guide medical care and public health policies. It is critical that public health leaders support evidence-based medicine, including the use of vaccines and other effective public health strategies that protect all of us.”

In addition, the letter emphasized the importance of protecting public access to taxpayer-

funded content through the federal government's publications and websites.

Meanwhile, ACP is closely monitoring the Trump administration's efforts to fire thousands of federal workers, including in agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Veterans Administration, which are crucial to the nation's well-being.

ACP also issued a Feb. 21 statement expressing its disappointment with the indefinite postponement of a meeting of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

“Our country is currently facing the worst epidemic of influenza in several decades, a measles outbreak in Texas and an ongoing national outbreak of pertussis,” Opole wrote on behalf of ACP. “The work that ACIP does in developing evidence-based recommendations about the use of vaccines is critical to helping prevent the spread of these and other vaccine-preventable illnesses.”

ACP is also monitoring whether Trump will implement policies that may threaten international medical graduates who are training in the United States.

Moving forward, Erickson said, ACP will continue to speak up through letters to federal officials and agencies, meetings with members of Congress and their staffs, and friend-of-the-court briefs that alert judges to legal support for ACP positions.

Back to the March 7, 2025 issue of ACP Advocate