Letter to the Editor: “Blessed Are Those Who Mourn”

In light of the recent passage of legislation, I pause to mourn the most vulnerable among us being harmed for the benefit of the privileged few.  Perhaps they should be offered at least some solidarity and support by acknowledging their humanity and dignity.  All faiths have means by which to do this, but in my Christian faith, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  He also says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”  I’m not sure how this will come to pass, but perhaps all of those with love for their brothers and sisters who suffer, those with conscience, will respond in some way.

Before the passage of the recent bill, we mourn those who have died and will die because of the withdrawal of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), estimated at 55,000 to date and projected 14 million in the next five years (4.5 million children under five years of age) (1).

In the most recent legislation, we mourn many.

With cuts to Medicaid:

We mourn the 11.8 million people losing health insurance in the next 10 years (2, 3).

We mourn the hundreds of rural communities that will likely lose access to care as their already financially distressed hospitals may close.  This would also eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs as these hospitals are often the largest employers in these towns (4).

We mourn the projected 51,000 American lives lost per year (5, 6).  This is the equivalent of one Boeing 737 airliner crashing daily.  Would we allow this to happen?

The irony is that as our legislators and executives attempt to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse, these issues lie in the providers, not the recipients.  The vast majority of fraud, waste, and abuse comes from billing for services not rendered, overbilling, and inflating diagnoses (7, 8, 9).  Measures are in place to combat these, but enforcement is lacking, which is made worse by cuts in those charged with oversight.  Perhaps a conversation between the Department of Government Efficiency and the director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Dr. Mehmet Oz) would be in order.

With cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program:

We mourn the over 7 million children and seniors losing their food benefits, increasing food insecurity (10, 11).

With the largest transfer of wealth in history from tax cuts to the wealthy:

We mourn our children and grandchildren saddled with an additional $2.8 trillion on top of the current national debt of $36.2 trillion (2).

We mourn the lowest wage earners who will see their “tax break” of $160 dwarfed by the benefits they will lose (12).

For those we mourn, the top financial 0.1% (making $5 million or more) will receive an annual average tax decrease (increase income) of almost $300,000 ($296,160) and those earning between $460,000 and $1.1 million, will benefit an average of $21,000 annually (12).

We remember “the least of these my brothers and sisters” who are suffering and are destined for more suffering.  Perhaps we should also remember the top 0.1% because “those who are first shall be last and those who are last shall be first” in the Kingdom.

Dr. Brad Hoffman, Excelsior Springs, MO

1. Cavalcanti DM, et al.  Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030:  a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis.  Thelancet.com 30 June 2025.
2. Congressional Budget Office, CBO.gov
3. Spencer SH et al. Unraveling the Big Beautiful Bill Spin.  Factcheck.org 02 July 2025
4. By the Numbers:  House Bill Takes Health Coverage Away From Millions of People and Raises Families’ Health Care Costs.  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  06 June 2025  cbpp.org.
5. Proposed changes to Medicaid, other health programs could lead to over 51,000 preventable deaths, researchers warn.  Yale School of Public Health.  03 June 2025.  ysph.yale.edu
6. Levins H.  House Bill Seen Causing 51,000 Preventable Deaths Annually.  Penn LDI.  23 June 2025.  ldi.upenn.edu
7. Common Types of Health Care Fraud Fact Sheet – CMS.  Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.  cms.gov
8. Freed M, et al.  Medicare Program Integrity and Efforts to Root Out Improper Payments, Fraud, Waste, and Abuse.  Kaiser Family Foundation.  31 March 2025.  kff.org
9. Schneider A.  The Truth about Fraud Against Medicaid.  Georgetown University.  10 January 2025.  ccf.georgetown.edu
10. By the Numbers:  House Republican Bill Takes Food Assistance Away From Millions of People.  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  06 June 2025.  cbpp.org.
11. Higham A.  Map Shows How Many Could Lose SNAP Benefits in Each State.  Newsweek.  03 June 2025.  newsweek.com.
12. Gleckman H.  House Tax Cuts Would Benefit Most, But Tilt To Highest-Income Households.  Tax Policy Center.  20 May 2025.  taxpolicycenter.org.