That is not quite how Medicaid works, Mr. Kennedy.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Wednesday “most Americans are not happy” with Medicaid because “the premiums are too high,” suggesting he may be oblivious to the fact that Medicaid overwhelmingly does not have premiums.
In reality, the vast majority of Medicaid enrollees pay nothing for health coverage, which is the point of the program—to insure low-income Americans who cannot afford private health insurance or out-of-pocket costs for medical care.
Donald Trump’s health secretary nominee also stated in his confirmation hearing that Medicaid is “fully paid for by the federal government,” which is also not true. The program, which provides health insurance to nearly 80 million low-income Americans, is financed by a combination of state and federal funds.
The gaffes did not stop there. Kennedy also missed big when Sen. Ben Ray Luján asked him to estimate how many babies are born in the U.S. each year on Medicaid. Kennedy, after conceding he had no clue, estimated 30 million. That is about eight times more than the overall number of births the U.S. had in total in 2023. About 1.4 million of those were on Medicaid, Luján informed Kennedy.
Kennedy also made incorrect statements about Medicare. He said most Americans have purchased a Medicare Advantage plan, but, in reality, it is more like one in every 10 Americans have.
Despite the inaccuracies, Kennedy repeatedly said Americans prefer private insurance to Medicare, which provides coverage to older and disabled Americans, and Medicaid, which covers low-income Americans.
Democrats have pointed out that understanding the nuances of Medicaid and Medicare is critical to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as Trump has called on Kennedy to do. His gaffes may call his chances of confirmation further into question, as he has long been considered one of Trump’s riskiest cabinet picks along with Pete Hegseth—who was confirmed on a VP tiebreaker—and Tulsi Gabbard, who is yet to have her confirmation hearing.
Kennedy’s mistakes did not go unnoticed Wednesday, despite the majority of the hearing’s questions being about his long history of opposing vaccines and spreading conspiracies about certain conditions, like polio and Lyme disease.
“Medicaid payments nationwide weren’t working yesterday,” wrote Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, on X. “RFK Jr. is proving at this hearing that he doesn’t even understand the basics of the program. He’s a danger to American’s health.”
Even questions from the Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy appeared to trip Kennedy up.
The lawmaker from Louisiana, who is also a physician, asked Kennedy to describe how he would reform the Medicaid program. That question elicited a rambling, vague response from Kennedy, who asserted again that most Americans are not happy with the program as is.
Kennedy said he would work to “increase transparency” and “increase accountability,” but did not say how or why he would do that. When Cassidy pressed the health secretary pick to be more specific, he merely responded, “I don’t have a broad proposal for dismantling the program.”