February 28, 2025

Wyden, Merkley Demand HHS Secretary Kennedy Reverse Drastic Cuts to Critical Health Care Assistance Program

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today demanded U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reverse extreme and harmful funding cuts to the Affordable Care Act Navigator program. 

In a letter to Secretary Kennedy, Wyden and Merkley joined Senate colleagues to point out how the drastic nearly 90 percent funding cut threatens to leave millions of Americans without vital access to the medical care they need. These cuts will disrupt Americans’ ability to access quality, affordable health insurance coverage, including for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.  

The senators wrote that the Navigator program is “a critical resource for individuals and families, especially those living in rural and underserved areas, by helping them purchase health coverage that meets their needs.”

The lawmakers continued, “In 2017 and 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) slashed funding for the Navigator program by 84 percent. [...] Unsurprisingly, ACA enrollment shrank by more than 2.5 million over the course of the Trump administration. Once Navigator funding was restored in 2021, enrollment rose and reached historic levels for the 2025 plan year,” 

“We strongly urge the administration to reconsider this harmful decision and restore full funding to the Navigator program. Cutting these vital resources will only create more barriers for individuals and families seeking coverage, ultimately increasing the number of uninsured Americans,” the senators concluded. 

Full text of the letter is here.

In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the letter led by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), was signed by U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM).