RFK Jr. wants to disrupt our powerful health care complex and it is terrified
Our country spends nearly twice as much on medical care per person than other wealthy countries but our outcomes are far worse. RFK Jr will need to be tough to bring real change.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is right-- the U.S. is flunking health care.
Our country spends nearly twice as much on medical care per person than other wealthy countries but our outcomes – measured by life expectancy, infant mortality, unmanaged diabetes and heart attack mortality -- are far worse. This is an industry that begs to be disrupted.
Whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom President-elect Trump has nominated to run the Department of Health and Human Services, is the man for the job remains to be seen. Give him this: he has been fearless in calling out the obvious failures of the status quo.
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The health care "establishment" is outraged by RFK Jr. 's nomination, but they only have themselves to blame. Gallup reports that merely 31% of the country thinks of our health care industry positively, while 51% have a negative view. Imagine: our medical establishment has lower approval ratings than Vice President Kamala Harris.
Why would that be? First, disenchantment with our medical officials soared during COVID. Anthony Fauci and others in charge had no idea what they were doing but nonetheless made up rules on the fly that required toddlers to wear masks, closed schools, shut down businesses and -- later on -- mandated vaccines and lied about their efficacy. And yet, for all the Draconian measures, the U.S. lost more people per capita to the pandemic than most other prosperous nations.
Second, people are not stupid; they know they spend too much for health care, that it’s too complicated and that the government’s ever-expanding intrusion into the field has made it inefficient. According to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the U.S. spends about $1,000 per person solely on administrative costs related to medical services, "almost five times more than the average of other wealthy countries and more than [the country] spends on long-term health care." That, folks, is the tail wagging the dog.
Doctors complain they cannot make a living even as they charge ever-higher fees, hospitals are struggling and the number of people without insurance is still too high. RFK Jr. has been railing about the dire state of our nation’s health for years. He is right. That we need to break some eggs is undeniable. It is also undeniable that the industries involved will fight any investigation tooth and nail.
Makers of pharmaceuticals and health care products are the biggest lobbyists in the U.S., spending nearly $400 million in 2023; insurance, hospitals and HMOs are close behind. All that money goes to protect the status quo and their role in our dysfunctional system. Since almost half of our health care dollars come from federal or state and local government, legislation is critical to shaping the industry’s direction.
So are legislators. Hence, health care companies also give heavily to political campaigns. In the recent election cycle, according to Open Secrets, the sector donated $63 million to Kamala Harris compared to $15 million to Donald Trump. When one party calls for government-run health care and free medical services for millions of migrants in the country illegally, while the other party proposes a radical upending of entrenched industry leaders, the self-interested choice is clear.
Many commentators have expressed concerns about Trump’s nomination of RFK Jr., noting especially his skepticism about childhood vaccines. They worry he may persuade families to opt out of decades-old inoculations that have eliminated measles and that protect against other diseases. That would indeed be tragic.
But where were those alarmists when millions of unvaccinated people were allowed to enter our country illegally? Earlier this year in Chicago, 57 people came down with measles in a migrant shelter in Chicago, with the outbreak traced to an unvaccinated infant. It turns out that some 88% of the migrants arriving in the Windy City are from Venezuela which, according to the CDC, has seen a "recent decline in routine childhood immunization coverage."
RFK Jr. has staked out other controversial positions on the use of fluoride, the prevalence of food dyes, the dangers of processed foods and many other topics. He has backed off some of the most worrisome outliers, like arguing that chemicals in our water may lead to transgenderism; he has also declared he will not take away anyone’s vaccines. Still, some doubt he will survive a likely confirmation challenge.
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One of his campaign themes likely to find widespread support is trying to combat the prevalence of chronic diseases and tackling obesity. Over 40% of Americans are obese, not only leading to poor quality of life, but also contributing to our nation’s out-of-control health care expenditures. An estimated 129 million people in our country have at least one chronic disease.
Former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden told NPR: "There are some things that RFK Jr. gets right. We do have a chronic disease crisis in this country…" With oversight of the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration, Kennedy can push for new rules on ultra-processed foods, school menus, dietary guidelines and much more.
Trying to Make America Healthy Again, as RFK jr. wants to do, is a Herculean task, but no harder than trying to slash the federal bureaucracy, as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are attempting with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Both undertakings are critical to our country’s fiscal prospects and in the long-term best interests of every American. Given the fierce resistance both efforts will face, they will also take guts.
That quality has been in tragically short supply among our leaders. President Joe Biden brags that he helped reduce the price of insulin for the nearly 40 million Americans who suffer from Type 2 diabetes. Why hasn’t he talked up CDC guidance that says, "You may be able to manage your diabetes with healthy eating and being active," and try to get people off insulin altogether?
Biden is afraid of insulting obese Americans; RFK Jr. and his fellow Trumpian disruptors are fearless – which may be exactly what’s needed to Make America Great (and Healthy) Again.
