For the Media

 “Despite what their reduction-in-force notices may have said, all of these workers are essential to our nation’s health. These areas serve core functions for our nation that allow us to accurately track disease, prevent death, inform Congress about the latest science, and effectively maintain CDC operations.” — M. Daniele Fallin, PhD

"The real issue for Medicare is how to balance the volume of physician services with payment. Medicare tries to limit the rate of growth in physician total payments, which means that providers need to see more patients to adjust for decreased revenue. As an alternative to the “doc fix” campaign, one proposed solution to effectively manage billions of physician services is making updates to the physician fee schedule, with an annual update based on a portion of the growth in the Medicare Economic Index." – Edmund Becker, PhD

"The government shutdown threatens funding for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, which provides food, formula, and breastfeeding support to nearly 7 million low-income mothers and children. Evidence shows that starting WIC during pregnancy lowers the risk of preterm birth and infant death—meaning the shutdown could jeopardize a program that saves babies’ lives." - Stephen Patrick, MD