MedPage today story.
Robert F. Kennedy Junior in front of the Senate Financial Committee on Wednesday about a lack of knowledge about the main health programs that he would have supervised, if he confirmed as Minister of HHS.
On several occasions during the 3.5 -hour hearing, Kennedy seemed to confuse the Medicare, Medicaid and Medicare feature, and it appears that he accidentally indicates health exchanges of reasonable care law.
“Medicaid does not work for the Americans, and it does not work specifically for the target population,” said Bill Cassidy, a doctorate in medicine (R-La), a doctor, in response to the methods that will improve the health care system.
Kennedy replied, “I am on the Medicare Advantage feature and I am very happy with it.” “Most of the people in Medicaid are not happy. The installments are very high, the discounts are very high, and the networks are narrow.”
In fact, medicaid plans generally do not contain installments, or if they do so, within the framework of federal law, they should remain low based on income.
Kennedy replied, “Well, I have no proposal to dismantle the program,” when asked about the reforms he would suggest, “Well, I have no suggestion to dismantle the program.” He later gave mysterious responses to Cassidy’s question about how to improve double birth programs, and about 12 million beneficiaries – they often have complex health problems – qualified for medical care but because of their low income, they are also qualified to get Medicaid.
Kennedy replied: “Well, dual drafts are not now presented in the system,” Kennedy replied. “And you know that I assume that my answer to this is to ensure the unification of the programs, that they are integrated, and care is integrated. I look forward to working with you, Dr. Cassidy, to make sure that we take care of people.”
Then Cassidy asked how he suggested merging programs. “Do you pay more medicare? Medicare pays less?
“I am not completely sure, because I am not there. I mean, it is difficult to integrate them …”
Kennedy also said that the beneficiaries of Medicare “prefer to be on Medicare’s feature because he provides very good services. People cannot tolerate. It’s much more expensive.”
In fact, the beneficiaries of the MA plan generally do not pay any installments or very low and choose their plans due to low or non -existing costs. However, it is correct that MA plans cost the insurance fund in general much more than if the same beneficiaries in traditional medical care – 82 billion dollars More in 2023 according to the Medicare Payment Consulting Committee.
At another stage, Kennedy said that medicaid “is fully paid by the federal government”, when it is actually paid through mix Of federal and state funds, with the states between 17 % and 41 % in the fiscal year 2023. This is an important concept to understand it, because all requirements for covering the Medicaid and eligibility program can vary greatly through the complex federal waiver programs run by HHS agencies.
The American Public Health Association (APHA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) held a joint media conference on Wednesday after the hearing, where Kennedy’s fit for the agency’s management, which has 13 separate and important sections, thousands of programs, thousands, 80,000 employees.
“… [H]George Benjamin, CEO of APHA, said that Es has not shown that he had no much health experience, and in many of his answers, we saw that he had … a scarcity of management experience. “
Benjamin noted that it is important for someone in this position to be “strict about scientific evidence, not the choice of cherries, and to understand things such as health care financing, which was not really known to the difference between medicaid and health exchanges.”
“He talked about payments and installments that were very high for Medicaid when Medicaid does not have installments to start,” Benjamin said. Also, “made a statement about the fact that the national institutes (national institutes of health) do not spend much money on chronic diseases, and this is not true at all.”
Benjamin – given the number of Kennedy’s mistakes – whether at this stage of this process he should be better aware of medical care and doctor, and problems with programs for Double Eligibles.
Benjamin replied, “None of this.” “And you know, this is not missile science … … [HHS] He does a lot of things, but I said earlier that the nation spends $ 5 trillion [on healthcare] We are at the bottom of other industrialized countries in terms of health results. There are many reasons for this, but he is not the man who works for it because he does not really know. He does not even understand the basics of what the administration does. “
Julie Sweitland, the doctorate, the first advisor at the Frameworks Institute, who is conducting research on social and language issues, said while noting that Kennedy conveyed “a few cases of getting rid of information.”
Several times, he suggested that “most Americans are not satisfied with Medicaid, although some of his comments indicate that it was not clear about what Medicaid is … in fact, we know that more than 8 out of 10 registered in Medicaid assessed the general performance of Medicaid positively, according to 2023 KFF reconnaissance“
Susan Chrisley, president of AAP, was asked about Kennedy’s statement to the committee that “most experts agree today, even the people who did it at that time, Covid vaccines are inappropriate for children who are 6 years old and who are not essentially any danger.”
Such notes, along with Kennedy’s opposition, which are often repeated in other vaccines-which he now denies-are concerned that he will find ways to discourage vaccinations, perhaps by not demanding it as a basic benefit by medical care or health plans.
Chrisly said Kennedy is wrong, as children can face complications in the long months after their recovery. Also, “they tend to be stored from infectious diseases because they are not very good in blowing their nose and maintaining their germs for themselves”, which can affect their family, schools and communities.
“Kovid is not something that does not affect children at all,” she said. “In fact, it has enormous effects.”