Legislative influences on cancer care. Deficit reduction politics was a major force in policymaking in the 1980s and a pervasive fact of life in the development of health policy. The Medicare budget was habitually used to find savings for deficit reduction and reforms, such as how to address the problem of 31 to 37 million uninsured Americans, were postponed. The 101st Congress did produce major physician payment reforms and in the spring of 1990, the Pepper Commission issued its recommendations for access to care and long-term care. Less sweeping but significant proposals affecting cancer care were considered by Congress. For example, positive actions were taken on anti-smoking and food labeling proposals. Funding for the National Institutes of Health was increased, and there was a growing awareness of the threat to biomedical research presented by assaults on animal research facilities. 