WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 1, 2025) — In February, the Offices of Personnel Management (OPM) and Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo directing agencies to draft plans for large-scale reductions-in-force (RIFs) by mid-April and agencies have already begun laying off significant numbers of staff. Patient groups representing millions of people with serious health conditions issue the following statement:
Disruptions to social safety-net programs including Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and others, can have a devastating impact on patients with chronic illnesses who depend on these services to access specialized care, financial support, and other necessary resources. Our organizations are deeply concerned that a call for rapid and large-scale reductions-in-force (RIFs) across government agencies, which is already underway in some divisions, has the potential to undermine program operations that are lifelines for the patients we represent.
We urge the administration to consider the long-term impacts and lasting harm to patients that could come from implementation of these proposed changes. We recognize the need to ensure programs operate efficiently and taxpayer dollars are spent wisely; however, this cannot come at the expense of access to critical government services patients rely on to manage their serious, sometimes life-threatening conditions.
For instance, for people who can no longer work due to a related health condition, like cystic fibrosis, disruptions to safety-net program operations may result in the patients’ inability to afford basic essentials like food, housing, or access to their critical treatments. For people living with multiple sclerosis, timely enrollment in Medicaid is vital for getting health care. Staff reductions that delay the enrollment process could jeopardize their access to essential medications and could be devastating to their long-term health.
These patients and others living with serious health conditions, like cancer, asthma, and blood disorders, rely on social safety-net programs to maintain their health and well-being. To move forward with large-scale RIFs without appropriate caution and safeguards would put patients at risk. We urge the administration to put patients first and minimize disruption to the essential government programs that our communities need.
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AiArthritis
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Kidney Fund
Arthritis Foundation
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Cancer Support Community
CancerCare
Crohn's & Colitis Foundation
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Epilepsy Foundation of America
Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research
Immune Deficiency Foundation
Lutheran Services in America
Muscular Dystrophy Association
National Bleeding Disorders Foundation
National Health Council
National Kidney Foundation
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
National Patient Advocate Foundation
Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc.
Susan G. Komen
The AIDS Institute
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Media Contact
Katie Haswell
khaswell@cff.org
240-200-3706