How the 2024 elections can impact cancer policy

Although health care has not been a central issue in the 2024 presidential campaign, the election’s outcome has the potential to affect a wide range of health policies. 

Paying attention is important; these policies will have direct impact on further consolidation of health care, access, investments in innovation, and how we deliver care to the patients we serve. 

Trump and Harris have philosophical differences on several broad health policy areas, ranging from reproductive health to prescription drug costs. They also likely have several areas of (surprising) agreement. 

Right now, the two candidates are neck and neck in the polls, and the polls are not even always reliable, particularly at the national level. Last-minute developments which can carry an outsized influence on public perception of a candidate, a phenomenon termed the “October surprise,” can also carry some sway. Just two short weeks into October, we have had not one, but two once-in-a-lifetime hurricanes devastate our southeastern states, and a (quickly resolved) port strike which could have had substantial implications on our economy. 

All this to say that with just a few weeks until the election, the outcome feels really unknowable.