The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which studies patient safety and healthcare quality since the 1990s, is now "on the brink" after the Trump administration reduced its staff by 75 percent, canceled grants, and refused to spend $100 million in congressionally approved funds.
Health policy experts Aaron Carroll and David Atkins warn in the *Annals of Internal Medicine* that AHRQ’s survival under the second Trump administration is uncertain. They note that past Republican leaders treated healthcare disparities as quality issues, but recent shifts have turned them into partisan concerns.
The agency, which researches care delivery, new technologies, and patient safety, has been a key federal resource for decades. Its current funding freeze and staffing crisis threaten its ability to function, raising questions about the future of U.S. healthcare research.
