{"id":108427,"date":"2025-02-14T16:17:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T00:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/14\/which-issues-do-healthcare-leaders-want-rfk-jr-to-address\/"},"modified":"2025-02-14T16:17:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T00:17:50","slug":"which-issues-do-healthcare-leaders-want-rfk-jr-to-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/02\/14\/which-issues-do-healthcare-leaders-want-rfk-jr-to-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Issues Do Healthcare Leaders Want RFK Jr. To Address?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post Which Issues Do Healthcare Leaders Want RFK Jr. To Address?<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite opposition from Democrats, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary by the Senate on Thursday.<\/p>\n

RFK Jr. has drawn some criticism over his skepticism of vaccines, though he attempted to remove himself from this during the confirmation process. He won the Senate vote 52 to 48<\/a>, with no Democrats voting in his favor. The one Republican to vote against RFK Jr. was Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, largely due to RFK Jr.\u2019s views on vaccines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my lifetime, I\u2019ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world,\u201d McConnell said in a statement.<\/a> \u201cI will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures, and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles. \u2026 Mr. Kennedy failed to prove he is the best possible person to lead America\u2019s largest health agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since RFK Jr.\u2019s confirmation, a flood of healthcare leaders have come out to share what health issues they want him to tackle. Here is what they had to say.<\/p>\n

Health coverage<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keep Americans Covered is calling on RFK Jr. to make health coverage tax credits a top priority. The organization is a coalition representing patients, consumers, doctors, hospitals, insurers and employers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Congress has until the end of the year to extend the enhanced premium tax credits introduced in 2021, which lowered health insurance premiums for millions of people purchasing coverage on the marketplace. Advocating for an extension of these credits should be at the top of RFK Jr.\u2019s to-do list, as \u201cmillions of Americans will see their health coverage become unaffordable,\u201d and up to 5 million people could lose coverage if the credits expire, according to Keep Americans Covered<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another healthcare advocacy organization hopes RFK Jr. will support Medicare Advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years of Medicare Advantage cuts have hurt seniors, resulting in plan closures, higher costs, and fewer benefits,\u201d said Mary Beth Donahue, president and CEO of the Better Medicare Alliance, in a statement. \u201cOur seniors need stability in their health care, and corrective action cannot wait. Secretary Kennedy and this administration can keep President Trump\u2019s promise to protect Medicare for seniors by supporting Medicare Advantage with adequate funding and a stable regulatory approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drug costs<\/strong><\/p>\n

An issue top of mind for many healthcare leaders is rising drug costs. Patient advocacy organization Patients for Affordable Drugs hopes to see RFK Jr. crack down on Big Pharma.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Kennedy has a critical opportunity \u2013 and responsibility \u2013 to build on existing measures to rein in Big Pharma\u2019s price-gouging and lower drug costs for patients,\u201d said Merith Basey, executive director of the organization, in a statement. \u201cWe are ready to work with him to ensure Medicare drug price negotiations continue, out-of-pocket costs are reduced, and competition in the marketplace is increased through reforms to end abusive pharmaceutical monopolies that harm patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), which represents pharmacy benefit managers, wants RFK Jr. to address \u201cthe prices set by drug companies and misuse of the patent system that blocks market-based competition for more affordable alternatives like generics and biosimilars,\u201d said JC Scott, president and CEO of PCMA. However, it\u2019s worth noting that PBMs have also come under fire<\/a> for their role in prescription drug prices.<\/p>\n

Food and nutrition<\/strong><\/p>\n

RFK Jr. has previously expressed an interest in tackling food quality in the U.S., and one healthcare executive hopes he follows through on that while also taking a larger approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecognizing the high level of carcinogens and preservatives in foods filling our grocery stores is a step in the right direction and the first of many necessary changes that need to be made. However, that is not the only course of action \u2014 we still need to address the lack of accessibility to clinical nutrition care,\u201d said Vanessa Rissetto, CEO and co-founder of nutrition startup Culina Health. \u201cMillions of Americans live with diet-related diseases, and yet only 0.2% of the U.S. population has seen a dietitian.\u201d<\/p>\n

The role of sleep in chronic disease<\/strong><\/p>\n

As RFK Jr. addresses the chronic disease epidemic, Laurent Martinot, co-founder and CEO at Sunrise, would like to see him recognize the role of sleep in preventing and managing diseases. The company offers at-home diagnosis and treatment for sleep conditions. Health issues like diabetes, heart disease and mental health have long been associated with poor sleep.<\/p>\n

Martinot also wants RFK Jr. to tackle the overprescription of sleep medications in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many Americans depend on these medications, but the healthcare system should prioritize identifying and addressing the root causes of sleep issues rather than just masking the problem with drugs,\u201d Martinot said in an email.<\/p>\n

Photo: Bulat Silvia, Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The post Which Issues Do Healthcare Leaders Want RFK Jr. To Address? appeared first on Above the Law. Despite opposition from Democrats, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary by the Senate on Thursday. RFK Jr. has drawn some criticism over his skepticism of vaccines, though he attempted to remove […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":108428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/GettyImages-1173531479-vuZPV7.jpeg?fit=724%2C483&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}