President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has raised a lot of questions about the future of healthcare in the United States. After all, Trump previously promised to let Kennedy “go wild” on “health,” “food,” and “medicines.”
You’ve probably heard the phrase “MAHA” swirling around all RFK Jr.’s nomination. MAHA has become a big platform for Kennedy over the past few months, and it’s understandable to have questions now that he’ll likely be confirmed for a major role.
But what is MAHA and what does it propose? Here’s the deal.
Meet the expert: Spencer Nadolsky, DO, an obesity and lipid specialist physician.
What does MAHA mean?
MAHA is an acronym for “Make America Healthy Again.” It’s a wordplay on MAGA (“Make American Great Again”), which was a hallmark of Trump’s campaigns.
What does MAHA propose?
MAHA and RFK Jr. have a bunch of proposals around different areas of healthcare, but some are more clear than others. Here’s what to know right now:
Chronic disease
Kennedy plans to fight an “epidemic” of chronic diseases in the United States, including “obesity, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, autism, cancer, and mental illness.” (Some of these, like autism, are not considered chronic diseases in the medical community.)
“These diseases cause untold misery and drain the vitality from our nation’s economy,” he writes on the MAHA website. “Chronic disease costs the economy over $4 trillion a year, and dwarfs even defense as the big drain on the federal budget.”
Kennedy plans to “reorient federal health agencies” to focus on chronic disease and “rid them of Big Pharma’s influence,” per the site. He promised to do so within “two years,” he said during a campaign stop.
Processed foods
According to the MAHA website, Kennedy plans to “ban the hundreds of food additives and chemicals that other countries have already prohibited.” (Note: That is something that involves many lawmakers, not just one person.)
“He will change regulations, research topics, and subsidies to reduce the dominance of ultra-processed food,” the website adds.
Many food industry groups have voiced support for stepping up the vetting of chemicals in food in the hopes that it will offset confusing state-by-state restrictions, per CBS.
Vaccines
Vaccines have been a big topic for RFK Jr., who has demonstrated anti-vax views in the past. In 2023, he said on the Lex Fridman podcast that “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.” He is currently on leave from his role as chairman of the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense, which has repeated the debunked claim that childhood vaccines cause autism.
But Kennedy told NPR in early November that “we’re not going to take vaccines away from anybody.” Instead, he says that “we are going to make sure that Americans have good information about vaccines and vaccine safety.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and vast majority of the medical community stress that vaccines are safe and effective at preventing serious disease.
Fluoride
Kennedy has also expressed concerns with the public health practice of adding fluoride to drinking water. In case you’re not familiar with it, fluoride is a mineral that strengthens teeth and reduces the risk of cavities. It’s been added to public drinking water since 1945 to lower the risk of tooth decay in children.
But Kennedy told NPR that fluoride should be removed from drinking water. “Now we have fluoride in toothpaste,” he said. In another interview with the outlet, Kennedy had this to say: “We don’t need fluoride in our water. It’s a very bad way to deliver it into our systems.”
Worth noting: The practice of adding fluoride to water is decided on a state and local level—not federal level. The practice of adding fluoride to drinking water is named by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.
Prescription drugs
Kennedy has repeatedly expressed his distaste with pharmaceutical companies, suggesting that many medical treatments are only commonplace due to the pharmaceutical industry.
Kennedy threatened the FDA in late October on X, saying that the federal agency is responsible for “aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals, and anything else that advances human health and can’t be patented by Pharma.”
(Health experts warn that raw milk can be extremely dangerous. Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were both touted by anti-vaxxers as alternative treatments for COVID-19, but have not been scientifically proven to be effective for infectious disease use.)
Kennedy has also called for a “review” of guidelines that govern advertising by pharmaceutical companies and an overhaul of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, which charges pharmaceutical companies so the FDA can vet proposed new drugs. Undoing the fees could shift that bill to taxpayers.
“We need to end the corruption. 50% of FDA’s budget comes not from the taxpayer, but from the pharmaceutical industry,” he said on Sept. 26.
The environment
Kennedy has a history of working on environmental issues. MAHA claims that he “will clean up toxic chemicals from our air, water, and soil.”
The website also says that “he will ensure that research into pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides, additives, and environmental chemicals is scientifically unbiased.”
What happens now?
It’s not clear. Kennedy’s nomination still has to be confirmed by the House and Senate, but it’s likely to be approved.
While there are a lot of fears around the MAHA platform, it’s important to look at both sides, says Spencer Nadolsky, DO, an obesity and lipid specialist physician.
“The concept of improving our food environment, which has been a major talking point for MAHA, is great,” he says. “I don’t know of any health professional who is not for improving the nutrition for everyone in the United States.”
Still, there are some serious drawbacks to consider. “There are some concerns around other talking points within the MAHA movement though,” Nadolsky says. “This includes promoting raw milk and other potentially dangerous ideas to the public. Hopefully we can stick with what we know will help people, which is improving our dietary patterns.”
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
