New England states join lawsuit to block $11b in public health cuts

“This massive and egregiously irresponsible cut of public health funding should put everyone on high alert to the depths this administration is willing to go,” said Neronha in a statement.

Rhode Island stands to lose more than $31 million dollars from these cancellations from HHS. If the funding is not restored, important state public health programs will have to be dissolved or disbanded, including those that focus on childhood vaccination and immunization, health disparities among high-risk and underserved populations, and laboratory testing capacity, according to the suit.

Simply put, if Rhode Islanders want these programs to continue without federal funding, state officials will have to raise taxes, Dr. Jerome Larkin, director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

“It’s not like it’s optional,” Neronha told reporters. “It’s not like the state can just go ahead and say, well, we’re not going to vaccinate children or we’re going to lay all these people off and we’re not going to have to fund that capacity somewhere — that’s putting the state in a very difficult point of decision making."

Massachusetts is expected to lose $118 million from the cuts. If the funding is not restored, programs to provide immunizations and vaccines for children, mental health services to adults and kids, in-home services for young adults, and trauma-informed care and services will be put at risk, according to Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office.

“In a time when emerging public health threats like measles and bird flu are on the rise, the Trump Administration has unlawfully cut funding meant to address these issues, showing us once again that they do not care about the health and safety of our residents or country,” said Campbell.

The freeze also applies to what’s known as Title X funding, the nation’s only federal program dedicated to providing family planning and basic preventive care to people who are uninsured, underinsured, and come from low-income households. This care includes birth control, cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and HIV services, gender-affirming care, behavioral health care, and more. By law, Title X funding cannot be used for abortion.

Maine providers receive approximately $2 million per year in Title X funding, which is used to serve nearly 6,500 patients. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England saw more than 7,000 Title X patients in New Hampshire in 2024, according to the organization.

“Once again, politicians are attacking people’s ability to access basic, essential health care,” said Nicole Clegg, chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, in a statement to The Boston Globe. “Patients depend on us. They trust us. We are often the only medical provider some of them see in any given year.”

In their lawsuit filed in US District Court in Rhode Island, the coalition of attorneys general asserts the mass terminations violate federal law because the end of the pandemic is not a “for cause” basis for ending the grants, particularly since none of the appropriated funds are tied to the end of the pandemic, which occurred more than a year ago. Up until a few days ago, HHS’ position was that the end of the pandemic did not affect the availability of these grant funds, the lawsuit states.

“These grants, although they had their inception in the COVID pandemic, really rightly need to be understood as a response to the gaps and the damage done to the public health infrastructure from the pandemic, and this was a way of ensuring that when the next pandemic occurs, we have the capacity to respond to that appropriately, dynamically, and in good time,” Larkin said. “So loss of this funding endangers the people of Rhode Island.”

Congress authorized and appropriated new and increased funding for these grants in COVID-19-related legislation to support critical public health needs. Many of these grants, according to the suit, are from specific programs created by Congress, such as block grants to states for mental health, substance abuse and addiction services.

Neronha and the coalition are seeking a temporary restraining order to invalidate Kennedy’s and HHS’ mass grant terminations in the suing states. The states claim the actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The states are also asking the court to prevent HHS from maintaining or reinstating the terminations and any agency actions implementing them.

Earlier this year, Neronha also co-led a federal lawsuit filed in Rhode Island to block Trump’s pause on federal aid and grants that is part of a sweeping ideological review of spending by the new administration.

Neronha is co-leading this lawsuit with Attorney General Phil Weiser of Colorado, Attorney General Rob Bonta of California, Attorney General Keith Ellison of Minnesota, and Attorney General Nick Brown of Washington. They are joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

“First and foremost, Americans expect their government to protect them from harm,” said Neronha. “By eliminating billions in critical funding for essential public health initiatives, the administration is effectively telling the American people to fend for themselves.”

Christopher Gavin of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.