RFK Jr. says government-run health care is failing Americans
Kennedy, 71, said he's on a Medicare Advantage plan, the privately run alternative to traditional Medicare. He said more people would prefer to be on those plans, but can't afford it.
'We need to listen to what people prefer to be on,' he said.
A September 2024 report from the Better Medicare Alliance, a group of insurers and business groups that support the privately run alternative to traditional Medicare, found that 52 percent of MA enrollees make less than $24,500 a year. Medicare Advantage plans can offer lower premiums but implement cost-cutting tools like prior authorization, in which doctors have to seek insurers' approval before providing care, and narrow doctor networks to cut costs.
Kennedy's comments came after Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who has a seat on Finance and also chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that will hold a hearing with Kennedy on Thursday, asked how Kennedy would improve Medicare, the insurer of older Americans, and Medicaid, which provides care to low-income ones — and how he might better integrate people who qualify for both programs.
Kennedy responded by suggesting that most people on federal insurance are unhappy with their government plans as well as the private ones offered under former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, prompting laughter from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
'I would ask any of the Democrats who are chuckling just now: Do you think all that money, the $900 billion that we're sending to Medicaid every year, has made Americans healthy? Do we think it's working for anybody? Are the premiums low enough?' Kennedy shot back.
Polling updated on Jan. 17 by the health policy research group KFF found that 64 percent of American adults favorably viewed the 2010 health care law.
Robert King and Lauren Gardner contributed to this report.
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