Local health care advocates, lead by Protect Our Care, spoke out against President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert Kennedy Jr. to lead the federal Department of Health and Human Services. They urged West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and Sen.-elect Jim Justice not to confirm Kennedy. (Courtesy photo)
Health care advocates from West Virginia have joined with thousands of physicians and public health professionals around the country in asking the U.S. Senate to reject President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert Kennedy Jr. as head of the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
Former state Del. Barbara Fleischauer joined representatives of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and West Virginia Citizen Action Group to speak against Kennedy’s confirmation during a news conference Friday by Protect our Care, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect health care for all Americans.
Kennedy, a member of the Kennedy family and the founder of the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense, has repeated the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism and called COVID-19 vaccines “crime against humanity.”
He’s also said that fluoride should be taken out of the country’s drinking water, despite experts’ assertion that it’s safe and effective at decreasing dental decay.
Lynette Maselli, state director of Protect our Care, said that Kennedy’s lack of leadership experience in public health and government and his radical views on vaccination make him a threat to West Virginians.
Health and Human Services oversees the federal government’s Medicaid and Medicare programs as well as the federal health insurance marketplace. Combined, the programs provide health care coverage to more than hundreds of thousands of West Virginians.
Congress is considering proposals that would reduce the federal match for Medicaid, including making the program funding by block grants and imposing per capita caps, Maselli said.
“These proposals to slash billions in federal funding for Medicaid would blow a $235 million hole in West Virginia’s state budget and lead tens of thousands of our friends and family uninsured,” she said.
Rhonda Rogombe, health policy analyst for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said it’s important to protect Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, because of the health care coverage options they provide.
“Without them, hospitals will have to provide uncompensated care, which puts a strain on our health care system, which provides jobs and economic activity in West Virginia, and is one of our biggest industries, and plays a huge role in keeping people healthy… and supporting our local economy.”
Nationally, more than 15,000 physicians signed on to a letter this week urging the U.S. Senate not to confirm the RFK’s nomination to health secretary, according to NBC News. The head of the American Public Health Association has also spoken against Kennedy’s nomination, saying that the country deserves better.
“To effectively lead our nation’s top health agency, a candidate should have the proper training, management skills, temperament and the trust of the public,” Dr. Georges C. Benjamin said in a statement in November. “Unfortunately, Mr. Kennedy fails on all fronts.”
Mindy Holcomb, a patient advocate for Citizen Action Group, said Friday that Kennedy should “absolutely not” be leading the nation’s health care system. She said one of the organization’s legislative priorities is to protect Medicaid.
“In West Virginia, we have a lot of immunocompromised people. We’re not the healthiest of states,” she said. “So a lot of people are going to be at risk if vaccination rates decline in any way. In terms of Medicaid, the [Affordable Care Act] and Medicare, ugh. I’m sorry, it’s so concerning. Medicaid is something that our people in West Virginia depend on for health care. Our rural health centers would almost be decimated by getting rid of or cutting those programs.”
Fleischauer, a Democrat who represented Monongalia County for more than 20 years and served on the House Health committee, said she was initially open minded about Kennedy’s nomination, but the more she looked into it, the more shocked she was about the implications of Kennedy’s statements.
Kennedy has been blamed for a 2019 measles outbreak on the island of Samoa that killed 83 people. He had traveled to the island prior to the outbreak and met with activists who called for islanders to skip the measles vaccine and use alternatives.
Fleishauer said the Samoa outbreak in particular has scared her.
“They had 83 children die,” she said. “This is a small island. Eighty-three innocent children died because they weren’t vaccinated.”
West Virginia has some of the best health care policy laws in the country, she said, and they’ve helped the state avoid similar outbreaks.
West Virginia is one of five states that do not allow religious or philosophical exemptions for school vaccine requirements. Sen.-elect Jim Justice, as governor last year, vetoed a bill that would have loosened the state’s school vaccination requirements, allowing private schools to come up with their own regulations. Health professionals have said the high vaccination rates have helped contribute to the state having only one reported measles case in the last 15 years.
“Misinformation kills people, especially children and the elderly. I really hope Sen. Justice and Capito both oppose his nomination,” she said. “I think it would be very bad for the state of West Virginia and very bad for our country.”
Justice has previously said he’s supportive of allowing his friend, President-elect Donald Trump, to “appoint the team that, absolutely, that he believes in.”
Justice held his last virtual administration briefing as governor Friday but, in a departure from his usual practice, did not take questions from reporters.
Capito did not comment for this story.
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