Republicans’ Largest Cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in History Would Reduce Access to Mental Health Care and Treatment for Substance Use Disorders
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released a new analysis outlining the harms Donald Trump and Republicans are inflicting on Americans living with mental health conditions and substance use disorders (SUDs). The report details how Republicans are dismantling access to lifesaving care as America experiences a historic mental health and SUD emergency, with rates of mental health conditions, suicide, and overdose deaths hitting record levels.
“Trump and Republicans have slammed the door shut on people struggling to access mental health and substance use services,” Wyden said. “As America grapples with a crisis in mental health care, Republicans keep concocting dangerous lies while slashing critical health care for American families. While Republicans play partisan games, Democrats are working to advance science-based mental health treatment that saves lives and taxpayer money.”
While Democrats support science-based mental health care, Republicans are adding red tape and making historic cuts to health care that would result in higher mortality rates, worse health care outcomes, and greater costs for states and taxpayers.
The report underscored that Republicans gutting more than $1 trillion in Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act would threaten mental and behavioral treatment for more than 15 million Americans and worsen the deadly opioid crisis. In addition, the analysis emphasized that Trump and Republicans fired more than half of America’s mental health first responders, dismantling the backbone of America’s mental health infrastructure and leaving states without the federal partners they rely on to protect public health. It also documented Trump and Republicans ramping up stigma against people with mental health conditions and SUDs by criminalizing chronic illnesses, slashing school-based mental health programs, and fueling fear around psychiatric treatment.
This report expanded on previous work by Wyden to expose the Trump-Republican agenda making America less healthy and safe. Last year, Wyden unveiled a Finance Committee analysis underscoring how Trumpcare hurts children and Americans fighting cancer. In September 2025, Wyden and Senator Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., released a report detailing the constant stream of chaos and harm that Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has brought upon Americans. In August 2025, ahead of Secretary Kennedy appearing before the Committee, Wyden demanded an end to secrecy and stonewalling at HHS after the mass firings and resignations of senior scientists and public servants.
The full report text is here.
A web version of this release is here.
###