Healthcare Gets Scant Mention in Trump Address to Congress

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy acknowledges applause during President Trump's address to Congress last night.

Healthcare was mentioned only briefly by President Donald Trump in his address to Congress last night that had immigration, tariffs, and government spending as its major themes.

At approximately 70 minutes into the 1 hour and 40 minute address, Trump spoke about rising child cancer rates as an issue that the Make America Healthy Again Commission would tackle. The commission, which Trump created with an executive order on Feb. 13, is chaired by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“Our goal is to get toxins out of our environment, poisons out of our food supply and keep our children healthy and strong,” Trump said.

Trump also referenced the growing prevalence of autism, citing undated figures of it increasing from 1 in 10,000 children to 1 in 36.

“There is something wrong, 1 in 36. Think of that. So we are going to find out what it is, and there is nobody better than Bobby — and all the people who are working with you; you have the best — to figure out what is going on. OK, Bobby, good luck,” said Trump.

Kennedy was a controversial pick for HHS secretary because of his many past statements and books questioning the safety of vaccines, including possible links to autism. During his confirmation hearings, he said he is not antivaccine but gave equivocal answers when questioned about his views about the links to vaccines and autism. As HHS secretary, Kennedy has canceled an FDA advisory committee meeting on flu vaccines and postponed one of three annual meetings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Some commentators have also expressed concern about Kennedy’s approach to a measles outbreak in Texas.

In an opinion piece posted Sunday on a Fox News website, Kennedy praised vaccines, writing that prior to the introduction of the measles vaccine in the 1960s, “virtually every child in the United States contracted measles” and that there was a case fatality rate of 1 in 1,205 cases from 1953 to 1962. Kennedy also wrote that “vaccines not only protect individual children from measles but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.”

But he also said parents should consult with their healthcare providers to understand their options to get the MMR [measles, mumps and rubella] vaccine’” and that “the decision to vaccinate is a personal one.” Kennedy also asserted that prior to vaccination, improvements in sanitation and nutrition had eliminated 98% of measles deaths.

During Trump’s address last night, Democrats held up small, circular signs that said, “Save Medicaid” and other slogans. Trump did not mention Medicaid — or Medicare — in his address. But the $1 to $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years that he and congressional Republicans are pushing for have raised the prospect of major cuts in federal funding for Medicaid. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said that the spending cuts can be achieved by eliminating fraud, waste and abuse and shrinking the federal government in other ways. He has also spoken in favor of adding work requirements for Medicaid eligibility.

Trump, however, might have put even more pressure on congressional Republicans to cut spending last night as he again voiced support for an array of tax cuts that will reduce revenue coming into the federal government. In addition to extending the tax cuts enacted during his first administration, Trump mentioned eliminating taxes on tips and Social Security. Trump also said he wants to make the interest on car loans tax deductible.