Introduction to Chronic Illness
In their zeal to “Make America Healthy Again,” Trump administration officials are making statements that some advocacy and medical groups say depict patients and the doctors who treat them as partly responsible for whatever ails them. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and agency leaders have attributed a panoply of chronic diseases and other medical issues — such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, diabetes, and obesity — to consumers and their lifestyle choices.
The Blame Game
Self-reliance is a common theme among adherents of MAHA, an informal movement for which Kennedy has fashioned himself the figurehead that promotes medical freedom, skepticism of vaccines, and a focus on nontraditional medicine to treat disease. Taking medication to manage diabetes? FDA Commissioner Marty Makary suggested on Fox News in late May that it would be effective to “treat more diabetes with cooking classes” instead of “just throwing insulin at people.” People with Type 1 diabetes must take insulin because their pancreases don’t produce it, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Impact on Policy Decisions
The attitudes held by top Trump health officials have affected policy decisions, some doctors and public health leaders say. Kennedy and other Trump administration health leaders have been especially outspoken, targeting issues they consider especially egregious in recent federal actions, research, or policy. For example, the Biden administration proposed a rule in November that would let Medicare cover weight loss medications such as Wegovy and Zepbound. But Kennedy and other political appointees at HHS and its agencies have criticized the drugs and the people who take them.
Criticism of Medications and Patients
Kennedy, too, has criticized the medications and people who use them, saying in October on Fox News that drugmakers “are counting on selling it to Americans because we’re so stupid and so addicted to drugs.” In April, the Trump administration announced it would not finalize the Biden-era coverage rule. “It’s impacting the kind of care and treatments patients will have,” said Andrea Love, a biomedical scientist and founder of ImmunoLogic, a science communication organization.
COVID-19 and Health Restrictions
Kennedy and other agency leaders also oppose many covid-era health restrictions and rules. Some physicians and public health leaders note these officials downplayed covid risks while criticizing vaccines developed during the previous Trump administration. Kennedy has said that people who died from covid actually fell victim to chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, or asthma. “That’s really what killed them,” Kennedy said on “Dr. Phil Primetime” in April.
Medicaid and Work Requirements
Kennedy also helped promote beliefs that many childless adults on Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income people, don’t work and thereby drain resources from the program. At a May hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Kennedy said the program was in jeopardy because of “all the able-bodied people who are not working [or] looking for jobs.” It’s a view embraced by Republican lawmakers who portrayed adults enrolled in Medicaid as lazy or shirking work as they advanced a budget bill estimated to cut federal spending on the program by about $1 trillion over a decade.
Conclusion
The statements made by Trump administration officials, including Kennedy, have been criticized for perpetuating stigmas, fostering the spread of misinformation, and eroding trust in modern medicine. The reality is that chronic diseases are complex and multifaceted, and cannot be solely attributed to individual lifestyle choices. It is essential to address the systemic issues that contribute to health disparities and to support evidence-based policies that promote health and well-being for all individuals.
FAQs
Q: What is the MAHA movement, and what are its goals?
A: The MAHA movement, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., promotes medical freedom, skepticism of vaccines, and a focus on nontraditional medicine to treat disease.
Q: What are the criticisms of the Trump administration’s approach to chronic illness?
A: The Trump administration’s approach has been criticized for perpetuating stigmas, fostering the spread of misinformation, and eroding trust in modern medicine.
Q: How have the attitudes of Trump health officials affected policy decisions?
A: The attitudes held by top Trump health officials have affected policy decisions, including the decision not to finalize the Biden-era coverage rule for weight loss medications.
Q: What is the impact of the Trump administration’s policies on Medicaid and health insurance?
A: The Trump administration’s policies, including the imposition of work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries, are estimated to cause about 10 million more people to be without health insurance by 2034.
