Improving Child Health: Government-Run Health Care Is No Remedy
President Donald Trump told our new Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “go wild” on health. Backing up Kennedy, Trump issued an Executive Order to create a special commission, chaired by Kennedy himself, to investigate, report, and recommend strategies to combat chronic disease. Importantly, the health of American children is the primary focus of this ambitious effort.
Kennedy’s task is enormous, and perhaps providential. In a major public speech, well before taking the helm of HHS, Kennedy revealed the depth of his commitment: “For 19 years, I have been praying every day when I get out of bed that God will put me in a position to end the chronic disease epidemic so we can restore health to our children.”
In his February 2025 order, Trump outlined the urgency of the problem: “In 2022 an estimated 30 million children (40.7%) had at least one health condition, such as allergies, asthma, or an autoimmune disease. Autism spectrum disorder now affects 1 in 36 children in the United States—a staggering increase from rate of 1 to 4 out of 10,000 children identified with the condition during the 1980s. Eighteen percent of late adolescents and young adults have fatty liver disease, close to 30% of adolescents are prediabetic, and more than 40% of adolescents are overweight or obese.”
President Trump orders the new commission “to aggressively combat the critical health challenges facing our citizens, including the rising rates of mental health disorders, obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.”
Kennedy’s accession to leadership in health policy marks a significant shift in the national debate from access to health care coverage to the actual improvement of health itself. Doug Holtz-Eakin, President of the American Action forum and former Director of the Congressional Budget Office nails it: “The reality is that most of what makes us healthy or unhealthy has nothing to do with health care. The vast majority of our health, more than 80% by most estimates, is determined by genetics, environment, diet, exercise, and other factors such as the use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco. If you want to improve health, this is where you should focus.” (Read more from “Improving Child Health: Government-Run Health Care Is No Remedy” HERE)
