RFK Jr. must Make America Healthy Again — for children
With the Senate poised to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, First Focus on Children has released a new white paper outlining a comprehensive agenda for children’s health that would ensure robust access to services for the nation’s 73 million children.
“If confirmed, Mr. Kennedy will hold the keys to the health of our nation’s babies, children and mothers,” said First Focus on Children President Bruce Lesley. “We would urge the nominee to honor the legacy of his father and his uncles by adopting this roadmap to a strong health care system for America’s children. He must protect and enhance Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program — which together insure more than half of all U.S. children — support the development of our nation’s youngest through early childhood and child care programs, and leverage his considerable authority to combat the impacts of poverty, neglect, and inequality.”
Kennedy’s father, Robert F. Kennedy Sr., and his uncles, President John F. Kennedy and Senator Edward M. Kennedy, advanced many policies to support children and families, including helping create Medicaid, Head Start and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
The report, called “Making America Healthy Again for Children,” outlines ways to protect and enhance Medicaid and CHIP, improve infant and maternal health, upgrade pediatric emergency and cancer care, and use his position to address the systemic challenges facing children, from inadequate access to health care to the impacts of poverty, neglect, and inequality.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has long been the cornerstone of the federal government’s response to these challenges, overseeing programs including Medicaid, theChildren’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Affordable Care Act (ACA), communityhealth centers, maternal child health programs, mental health and substance abuse, public health, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), child welfare programs, early childhood programs like Head Start, and runaway and homeless youth programs, which together have transformed the lives of millions of children.