US health policy: the Senate must act (19 July 2025)

Summary

Lancet Editorial on the current health policies in the USA.

Content

During his confirmation hearings, Robert F Kennedy Jr, now Head of US Health and Human Services (HHS), gave repeated reassurances to senators concerned about his credentials and beliefs. He promised that health plans would be based on sound evidence and that vaccination recommendations would continue to be made in an open and transparent manner. He committed to clearly communicating the scientific basis for decisions and to “gold standard, evidence-based science”. “I want to empower scientists.” “I will bring radical transparency to HHS to increase public trust.” 

On 27 March  HHS announced massive restructuring and the firing of 10 000 employees, including many career scientists. On 16 May, the flagship Make America Healthy Again report was published—it was later found to contain numerous misrepresentations and alleged AI-based hallucinations.

On 27 May Kennedy announced changes to the recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination via social media, reportedly bypassing usual scientific committees and presenting no new evidence to justify the changes.

On 9 June, he dismissed all 17 members of the independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) as well as officials tasked with vetting members and overseeing the group. He later made controversial appointments of his own choosing.

On 7 July, measles cases in the USA reached their highest levels in 25 years. On 0 July, Kennedy abruptly cancelled a meeting of the US Preventive Services Task Force, an expert panel that evaluates preventive care recommendations. Meanwhile, the proposed federal budget for 2026 calls for a 40% reduction in funding for the NIH and a 54% reduction for the CDC. And, as reported in the Lancet, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will see 17 million people lose health insurance. The promise has been to tackle chronic disease, address undue corporate influences, and make all Americans healthier, but the dissonance between rhetoric and action shows deep contradiction and hypocrisy at the heart of US health leadership.