Rep. Mike Kennedy questions federal role in health policy
by Bridger Beal-Cvetko ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- Rep. Mike Kennedy questioned federal oversight in health policy.
- He criticized federal health politicization and advocated for state-led healthcare approaches.
- Kennedy said states should act as laboratories of democracy to determine the most successful policies.
SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Mike Kennedy questioned the federal government's role in overseeing Americans' health while speaking at the University of Utah on Tuesday.
Kennedy, a freshman Republican congressman with a background in medicine, spent much of an hourlong discussion as part of the Sutherland Institute's Congressional Series talking about healthcare policy.
Toward the end of the panel, he was asked by an audience member for his thoughts about the Trump administration's approach to health, given that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been a vocal critic of vaccination and spread dubious claims about the causes of autism.
Mike Kennedy didn't address the secretary by name, but said if someone is troubled by leadership of federal health agencies, the real problem is the system itself.
"Is it healthy for the federal government to do this stuff on a political basis?" he asked. "If we got challenges with the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health) or HHS administration, these are political appointees chosen by the president. And my question is, who should be in charge of these decisions? Would we rather scientists and doctors be in charge of these decisions, or political appointees who have a particular perspective?"
The way Kennedy sees it, politicians have addressed issued with public health by adding new federal agencies or programs since before he was born, but he argues that's the wrong approach.
"What you want is the right person to be in that position," he said. "I'm warning you right now, that position shouldn't be there. We don't need a chief doctor."
The current approach leads to politicization of the public health system, from the federal government's COVID-19 pandemic response to how research grants are allocated, according to Kennedy. If he had it his way, "these national entities would do far less," he said.
"I want Utah strong, and I want Washington small," Kennedy added.
He believes a "patchwork" of health approaches in various states would actually lead to better scientific and policy outcomes, as states can compare various policies to see which ones are successful.
"Science is never settled on anything," he said. "Science is always challenging itself. It should be. So, my response to that is, we need to shrink the federal government and get some of these people out of the business of that. ... It should be the states doing this stuff."
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