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The 2024 Republican National Convention ended on Thursday. Here are the healthcare topics that were covered during the convention and where the party stands on healthcare.
The GOP platform on healthcare
As it stands, the Republican Party is not expected to reveal a detailed healthcare platform, Modern Healthcare reports, however, a combination of bills and documents — including the party's official 2024 platform — can offer insight into the party's views on healthcare.
Earlier this month, the House Appropriations Committee — a majority Republican panel — advanced HHS' budget, while the Republican Study Committee — which includes the majority of House Republicans — released its agenda for 2025.
Grace-Marie Turner, founder and president of the Galen Institute, a conservative think tank in Virginia, acknowledged that the 2024 GOP platform was light on healthcare substance, and said that healthcare is "woven into" the discussion on the economy and embedded into the overall vision of "getting families back into a position that they feel financially secure."
According to the GOP party platform, healthcare and prescription drug costs "are out of control." The platform said that Republicans "will increase Transparency, promote Choice and Competition, and expand access to new Affordable Healthcare and prescription drug options."
While it isn't mentioned in this year's platform, Trump promised a year ago to sign an executive order that "will tell Big Pharma that we will only pay the best price they offer to foreign nations, who have been taking advantage of us for so long — the United States is tired of getting ripped off."
The Republican Study Committee proposed moving Medicare to a voucher-like system while also reducing Medicaid funding through block grants and repealing Medicare drug price negotiation enacted through the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Republican platform said that President Trump "will not cut one penny" from Medicare and Social Security but will "ensure Economic Stability," but doesn't provide details on the stability provisions.
There's no mention of Medicaid in the GOP party platform, however, Brian Blasé, president of the nonpartisan Paragon Health Institute, said Republicans still have "a lot of sympathy" for work requirements for able-bodied adults and for equalizing reimbursement rates.
"If Republicans are in charge, there will be enormous pressure to cut spending to reduce the deficit and fund tax cuts, so big Medicaid cuts through block grants to states or capped federal funding are likely," said Larry Levitt, EVP for health policy at KFF.
Advisory Board's Ellie Wiles said that the Republican party's potential cuts to Medicare and Medicaid are "especially troubling, as they would exacerbate existing barriers to receiving timely, affordable, high-quality care."
The House Appropriations Committee bill on HHS spending contains several anti-abortion provisions, including language that would allow medical professionals to sue federal agencies if they claim they were punished for refusing to perform an abortion or refer a patient to abortion providers. The bill would also cut Title X family planning grants.
Meanwhile, the Republican party platform emphasized the party's commitment to defend states' rights on the "issue of life" and cited the 14th Amendment's "due process" clause. It also underscored the party's opposition to late-term abortions, "while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments)."
Turner noted that the Supreme Court left abortion up to the states, and that seems to be Trump's position as well.
Advisory Board's Gabriela Marmolejos said she found many of the Republican party's stances on reproductive health "conflicting."
"If the [Republican] stance is to support policies that advance prenatal care, access to birth control, and fertility treatments, I wouldn't expect cuts to Medicaid that funds 41% of all U.S. births and nearly half (47%) of U.S. births in rural communities that are experiencing obstetric unit closures," she said. "I also wouldn't expect cuts to Title X grants that improve access to affordable birth control, pregnancy testing and counseling, and infertility services across the country, especially in rural communities. I'm hopeful the party reconsiders these stances and advance the health of women and other birthing people in the U.S."
The GOP party platform pledges to ban taxpayer funding for gender-affirming surgeries and also mentions restrictions on transgender people in sports and education.
A number of state laws in recent years have aimed to limit minors' access to transition-related care, however, the 2024 party platform does not include age restrictions and seeks to prohibit federal funding regardless of a patient's age.
The platform refers to "radical gender ideology" and says the Republican Party will defund schools that participate in "gender indoctrination."
On the campaign trail, Trump has repeatedly mentioned banning transgender people from sports, cutting government funding that goes towards gender-affirming care, and reversing Biden's changes to Title IX education regulations.
The healthcare issues raised at the 2024 RNC
Healthcare was not a major focus of the 2024 RNC speakers, but some topics were mentioned, especially the opioid epidemic.
Anne Funder, a mother and activist, spoke about her 15-year-old son who was killed by fentanyl in California.
"His whole future, everything we ever wanted for him was ripped away in an instant, and Joe Biden does nothing. I hold Joe Biden, [Ka]mala Harris … and [Democratic California Gov.] Gavin Newsom and every Democrat who supports open borders responsible for the death of my son," she said.
"We have seen the highest number of fentanyl deaths during the Biden-Harris administration, and fentanyl is now the number one killer of Americans ages 18 to 45," Funder added. "We need President Trump back to save the lives of our kids."
Similarly, Kari Lake, a Republican candidate for Senate from Arizona, blamed her opponent, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), and other Democrats for "hand[ing] over control of my state … to the drug cartels, and because of them, criminals and deadly drugs are pouring in and our children are dying … We are losing a generation of young people to this fentanyl crisis, and it's got to stop."
David McCormick, a Republican candidate for Senate from Pennsylvania, also argued that his opponent, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and President Biden are responsible for drugs coming across "wide open borders," leaving 100,000 Americans dead.
Forest County Potawatomi Executive Council Chairman James Crawford also noted the threat of illegal drugs to tribal communities.
"The growing use and abuse of illegal drugs are claiming countless lives on reservations across this country, and Native American women and girls continue to be exploited, trafficked, and subjected to violence at reprehensible levels," he said.
However, multiple pieces of research have yet to find a link between undocumented people and increased crime rates.
Other speakers at the convention spoke about transgender people playing in sports. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said that "liberal senators want boys in girls' sports. They want men in your daughters' and my daughters' locker room. They can't even define what a woman is."
Similarly, Eric Trump said that "[m]ale athletes, guys my height — 6'5" — are swimming in women's sports, destroying the dreams of young girls who have trained every minute of their lives."
During his speech at the close of the RNC, Donald Trump promised cures for cancer and other diseases.
"We will unleash the power of American innovation, and as we do, we will soon be on the verge of finding the cures to cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and many other diseases," Trump said. "We're going to get to the bottom of it."
Trump also boasted about the success of the "Right to Try" law, which was enacted in 2018. It allows terminally ill patients to try unapproved drugs if the drugs have undergone phase I testing and if the patients meet other conditions.
"The insurance companies didn't want to do it — they didn't want the risk," Trump said. "Labs didn't want to do it; doctors didn't want to do it. I got everybody into an office and got them to agree." Under the law, however, insurers are not required to pay for the drugs and manufacturers are not required to provide them. (Firth, MedPage Today, 7/17; Garsd, NPR, 3/8; McAuliff, Modern Healthcare, 7/15; Firth, MedPage Today, 7/12; Owermohle/Zhang, STAT+ [subscription required], 7/8; Cohen/Raman, Roll Call, 7/16; Galewitz, KFF Health News, 7/19; Frieden, MedPage Today, 7/19; Trump speech transcript, New York Times, 7/19)
Learn about the 10 major trends impacting health systems — from financial pressures to workforce stability to generative AI. Download these ready-to-use slides to get up to speed on what health system leaders should be watching this year.
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