Aderholt Remarks at Budget Hearing on Department of Health and Human Services
Good afternoon. I want to welcome again to our subcommittee the Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Mr. Secretary, we are pleased to have you with us here today.
Secretary Kennedy brings a new perspective to the focus on public health and what is needed to improve the state of the health care system in America. For too long public health recommendations have not revisited the science supporting them and the health care system lacks focus on improving health and wellness for better long-term outcomes. Secretary Kennedy’s Make America Health Again initiative has galvanized advocates who want to take a direct role in improving their health and wellbeing.
The federal government is currently spending… let me re-phrase that: American taxpayers are currently spending an estimated $1.9 TRILLION annually on health care programs and services, which constitutes over a quarter of federal outlays, and the largest category of federal spending. The United States vastly outpaces every other country in the world on per capita health care spending.
And yet, despite this massive and growing investment, America’s health outcomes are often LOWER than other developed countries. Life expectancy in the U.S. is LOWER than in other developed economies while rates of infant and maternal mortality, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are HIGHER.
That does not mean that targeted money spent on the right work isn’t important. But simply adding more money to the system is not improving our outcomes. It’s time to try something different. I want to commend the Secretary for charting a new course to fight the chronic disease crippling America.
In addition to taking on chronic disease, the Administration is restoring common sense to hospitals performing mutilating surgeries on children. HHS has taken numerous actions to end the practice of sex change surgeries on minors in the health care system. These so called “treatments” expose children to irreversible harm that will last their entire lifetime, ending these practices is long overdue.
Also long overdue is enforcement of conscience rights protected by the Weldon amendment, which for over twenty years has prohibited the discrimination of health care entities by state and local governments because they refuse to provide coverage for abortion. Prior Secretaries have blatantly ignored the law in order to protect far left governments forcing their views onto faith-based providers. Just last month, HHS announced an investigation into 13 states for violations of the Weldon amendment. Thank you, Secretary Kennedy, for your agency standing up and doing the right thing.
Another area I want to see the Administration focus more efforts on is the status of rural health care. Hospital closures, maternity deserts, and limited access to general surgery abounds in much of the United States. Rural communities deserve better from their government. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act provided $50 billion for rural health transformation, and I think discretionary investments into this space can complement this effort.
Like with any budget, the proposal put forward by your agency seeks to balance objectives of fiscal stewardship while prioritizing the most critical investments. Like last year, I doubt we will all agree on areas for reduction. I am a strong supporter of investments by NIH and believe extreme swings in funding supporting biomedical research are counterproductive. I respect that to fit the President’s objective; you had to make some hard decisions. I look forward to working with you and NIH Director Dr. Jay Battacharya to finding the right balance of spending on research to ensure America’s rightful place at the forefront of scientific breakthroughs.
Mr. Secretary, as I’m sure you have learned in your time in federal service, implementing reforms in Washington is not an easy task. The President has asked you to take on a mighty challenge. I look forward to your continued success and ways we can work together to continue making America healthy again.
