RFK Jr. lays out future health agenda, including more price transparency; cites past success

(The Center Square) - Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, called for increased drug and medical price transparency on Monday.

Kennedy, in honor of the one-year anniversary of his Senate confirmation to the post of HHS secretary, highlighted actions undertaken by the agency to alter federal health guidelines, increase price transparency and roll back vaccine recommendations. He called for increased restrictions on processed foods, and cited adverse health consequences to the proliferation of ultra-processed foods.

“We need to change what we’re feeding these children, or we’re going to lose our country,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy accused large corporations that make ultra-processed foods of stealing profits from farmers and ranchers who make whole food. He said the corporations used their influence to write federal nutrition guidelines under the Biden administration.

“USDA and FDA have been captured by the industries they were supposed to regulate and the lobbyists for those industries were writing the dietary guidelines and drawing up the food pyramid,” Kennedy said.

In collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Kennedy released new dietary guidelines that placed an emphasis on red meat and dairy products.

However, a new report from Protect Our Care, a health care advocacy organization, said the guidelines were based on input from corporate leaders in the beef and dairy industries. Federal guidelines dictate what kinds of foods should be prioritized in the federal food assistance program, prison system, veterans meals, active duty military and school lunches across the country.

“The red-meat and full-fat-heavy menus Kennedy is pushing are financially unrealistic for already strained school meal programs,” the report said.

Kennedy also highlighted the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce drug prices through most favored nations agreements. He pointed to vast differences in price between prescription drugs sold in the United States compared to European countries.

He called out how the administration has worked to bring back domestic drug production, reduce prices and get more price transparency from insurance providers. He called for increased sharing of medical records between patients and artificial intelligence providers.

“Most doctors now are owned by corporations, they’re owned by hospitals, or they’re owned by hospital systems or insurers,” Kennedy said. “They don’t really have the time to go through your entire medical record but AI could do that and it is going to end up saving a lot of lives and giving people more precision and more control over their health.”

Protect Our Care pointed to Kennedy’s reshaping of federal vaccine guidelines. The group criticized his rollback of funding for vaccines, including for COVID-19 and flu.

“Kennedy has gone after COVID-19 shots from both ends – shrinking who is advised to get them and kneecapping the science behind next-generation vaccines,” the report said.

The report also criticized HHS leadership, including Kennedy, for firing all 17 members of a vaccine advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control.

Kennedy called for Americans to “be skeptical” of advice from medical experts and called on parents to figure out what is best for healthy living.

“These are all lies you’re being told,” Kennedy said. “We have a responsibility that people don’t have in other systems. You need to make up your own mind and make good decisions for yourself and your children.”