(Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the United States’ top health agency, he said on Thursday.
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DREW ALTMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION KFF:
“It’s a really historic change in the kind of person appointed secretary, not unlike justice, not unlike the DNI. Historically, secretaries have been people with real experience and standing in national healthcare and he certainly is not that, and has views from outside the mainstream, and is a renegade appointment.
“A lot still to be determined in terms of the support he gets from the President, whether he is in sync with the heads of the powerful independent agencies in HHS, or whether they resist him. They still to be appointed: NIH, FDA, CDC, CMS.
“One of the very notable things about this appointment, if in fact it happens, is that he has not really ever focused on the big entitlement programs; Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA, which are where the money is in the department, really have always been regarded as the guts of the department.
“And so the question is, as Republicans move to dial back the role of the federal government in health and cut federal spending to pay for their tax cuts, is he going to be engaged with that, or will other people take the lead on that, the White House, the agencies, or maybe just Congress? In other words, will he be the secretary of the whole department, or just the parts of the department that he focuses on?”
SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE CHAIR RON WYDEN, DEMOCRAT FROM OREGON:
“Trump’s health agenda isn’t a secret: worse health care at a higher cost for American families. Trump and Republicans in Congress have a proven track record of empowering insurance companies and Big Pharma while leaving everyday Americans to foot the bill. That means higher premiums, weakened protections for pre-existing conditions, criminalizing reproductive health care, and attacks on essential health coverage like Medicaid.
“Mr. Kennedy’s outlandish views on basic scientific facts are disturbing and should worry all parents who expect schools and other public spaces to be safe for their children. When Mr. Kennedy comes before the Finance Committee, it’s going to be very clear what Americans stand to lose under Trump and Republicans in Congress.”
(Reporting By David Gaffen)
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