Washington – Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s alternating views of vaccines, reproductive rights and questions of public health were a central at his first hearing on Wednesday.
Kennedy promised to bring the US senate “radical transparency” to the Ministry of Health and Human Services, although he had not described his plans for enormous health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid during the almost four-hour hearing.
Kennedy repeatedly said in front of the financial committee that he would like to reduce chronic diseases across the country and to have scientific research leading.
But democratic senators were skeptical that he would improve the general health results of the country if it had been confirmed as HHS Secretary and would list some of his previous claims that were not supported by research or medicine.
“The nation has long been enclosed in a divisive health debate about who pays. If health costs achieve 20%, there are no good options, only bad, ”said Kennedy. “The burden between the government and the company and insurers, providers and families is like the new arrangement of cover chairs on the Titanic.”
Kennedy said that if he was confirmed, he would try to ensure the federal expenditure for nutritional programs for “healthy food” and to strengthen the control of “chemical additives in our food supply”.
“We will remove financial interests from our agencies. We will create an honest, impartial gold standard science at HHS who is responsible for the president, the congress and the American people, ”added Kennedy. “We will reverse the epidemic of chronic diseases and bring the nation back to good health.”
Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders asked how senators or Americans could trust what Kennedy said During the hearingIn view of his quick opinion in the opinion on vaccine security and the role of the government in the event of abortion access compared to the comments that were only made last year.
“Tell me why people believe that people should have confidence in their consistency and work if they have made a big turn in a problem in this meaning in such a short time?” Said Sanders.
“Conspiracy theories, quacks, charlatans”
The financial committee member Ron Wyden, a democrat from Oregon, made Kennedy for some of his previous comments on the safety of vaccines and said that he had “conspiracy theories, quacks, Charlatans”.
“Lord Kennedy has changed his views so often that it is almost impossible to know where he is on so many of the basic topics that affect the daily life of the Americans,” said Wyden.
During the hearing, Kennedy said in several places that he supports certain vaccines, including measles and polio as well as research on medical treatments.
“I support vaccines. I support the children’s plan. I’ll do that, ”said Kennedy. “The only thing I want is a good science and that’s it.”
Maggie Hassan, Democratic Senator of New Hampshire, said the Americans should be proud that vaccines in the United States, including polio and smallpox, have exterminated largely fatal diseases.
“I am extremely concerned that as a secretary you can stop critical vaccine research and take advantage of the natural concerns of the parents by not vaccinating them to vaccinate their children,” said Hassan. “This will cause more children to get ailing and some even die.
“Before the measles vaccinated, around 500 American children died of measles a year. This is too much risk to our country, and there is no reason why one of us should believe that they have reversed the views against Accycine, which they have advertised for 25 years. “
Abortion pill
Kennedy, who made various statements about access to abortions for the President during his unsuccessful border, promised to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda through reproductive rights, which may be.
Anti-abbreviation groups are committed to restricting access to medication abortions. The FDA is housed in HHS.
“President Trump asked me to study Mifepriston’s security,” said Kennedy. “He has not yet dealt with how to regulate it. Whatever he does, I will implement these guidelines. I will work with this committee to make these guidelines sensible. “
The FDA originally approved Mifepristone in 2000 and made several changes to prescription guidelines in 2016.
These changes included increasing the gestational limit of seven to ten weeks and the preparation of dosage and time changes for both pharmaceuticals. The updated guidelines enabled qualified health service providers the opportunity to prescribe medication in order to do this with Mifepriston and not just with doctors. And the requirement for three personal visits to the doctor was removed.
Numerous medical organizations, including the American College of obstetricians and gynecologists, the American Medical Association and the Society for Mothers Fetal Medicine Submitted letters to the Supreme Court Last year the security and effectiveness of Mifepriston testify in one case Ultimately, this left the access to medication abortation intact.
Kennedy also said during the hearing that he supports Trump’s guidelines for the family planning program of Title X, including the blocking of federal financing to organizations that carry out or transfer patients for abortions.
The federal law prevents taxpayers from going to abortions, with exceptions to rape, incest or lifespan of the pregnant patient.
Medical emergency treatment
Kennedy did not seem to be familiar with a federal law that guarantees the patient access to emergency health regardless of the insurance status.
The law, which is known as an emergency law for medical treatment and labor (Emtala), was a point of mighty disagreements between republican controlled states and the bidet management after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional law on abortion in 2022.
It is the subject of a current case that made his way to the Supreme Court Before he is sent back to the Circuit Court, The arguments heard in December.
The Democratic Senator of Nevada, Catherine Cortez Masto, asked Kennedy a number of questions about protection in the context of Emtala during the hearing and began whether a woman who experiences a heart attack was to be treated according to this federal law regardless of her insurance status.
Kennedy said yes. But he said he did not know whether the law would protect a woman who experienced life -threatening bleeding from incomplete miscarriage, whose doctor said she needed an abortion.
Kennedy struggled to answer another question from Cortez Masto about what the authorities have to enforce HHS in hospitals, receive Medicare financing, and said he thought he has household power, but nothing else.
The centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, she said, “actually examined complaints about violations of Emtala and the Inspector General for Health and Human Services, which was recently released by Donald Trump recently.”
“So you will enforce the Emtala laws, and it is important that you understand your effects and do not play politics if the patient who presents himself in the emergency room due to a position that this administration has taken,” said Cortez Masto .
Cassidy questions about Medicaid
Kennedy fought similarly to answer questions from the Republican Senator of Louisiana, Bill Cassidy to Medicare and Medicaid, in an exchange that could lead to considerable hurdles for his confirmation if Cassidy does not support him.
Cassidy – A doctor and chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which will hear his hearing on confirmation for Kennedy on Thursday – asked Kennedy repeatedly how he would improve Medicaid.
Kennedy listed his criticism of the program before he said that states should experiment with pilot programs and that the goals should be value -based care, transparency and accountability.
Kennedy said there were also many opportunities for telemedicine and artificial intelligence before talking about AI medical sisters.
When asked by Kennedy, who was asked by Cassidy about people who are entitled to both Medicare and Medicaid, he said that the answer is that “the programs are consolidated and that the care is integrated .. “
But Kennedy had no answer when he pressed how he would deal with it. He also received basic facts about Medicaid, including the fact that the costs between federal and state governments are shared.
“I’m not quite sure because I’m not there,” said Kennedy. “I think it is tough to integrate them, since Medicare is under fee for the service and is paid for by employer taxes. Medicaid is fully paid for by the federal government and it is not a fee. So I don’t know the answer. I look forward to exploring options with you. “
Kennedy said in response to a question from Cassidy about the differences between classic Medicare and Medicare advantage that people at the moment have the choice, even though he would expect more people to have a Medicare advantage if it were no longer more steep Price.
Covid-19 claims
Another, potentially harmful exchange for Kennedy’s confirmation prospects came when the Democratic Senator of Colorado, Michael Bennet, asked a number of questions about previous statements that Kennedy asked on various questions of public health.
“Lord of Kennedy, did you say that Covid-19 was a genetically modified organic monkey that aims to target black and white people, but spared Ashkenasian Jews and Chinese?” Asked Bennet.
Kennedy replied that he “did not say that it was intentionally targeted.”
Kennedy said he “probably” made comments that Lyme Borreliosis was a military bioweapon.
Kennedy said he was not sure whether he wrote in one of his books that it is “undeniable that African AIDS is a completely different disease than western AIDS,” follows a question from Bennet.
However, Kennedy denied explaining explanations that pesticides cause children to become transgender.
Bennet said he would enter these former Kennedy statements in the official recording of the committee.
Last updated 7:06 p.m., January 29, 2025
