Upon confirmation hearing, RFK Jr. over his ignorance

On the way into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first Senate Confirmation Hearing, many observers expected the long -time conspiracy theorist to face tough questions about his many foreign ideas – And he did. It was also widely assumed that Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Institute of Health and Human Services would try to distance themselves from his long list of anti-vaccine activism and so did.

It also stood for the reason why Kennedy would pretend that he never said many of the ridiculous things he certainly said – And he did too.

What was not expected, however, was to see HHS -nominated struggle badly with the basics of the US health system that Kennedy would be able to oversee. NBC News reported:

Oregon -Democrat’s assessment was more than fair, as Kennedy seemed to be out of his depth in response to questions that really shouldn’t have been particularly challenging.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, for example, asked the nominees of possible Medicaid plans, at which time Kennedy replied: “Most people on Medicaid are not happy. The prizes are too high, self -properties are too high, the networks are narrow. “

In reality, there is ample research in the public that shows broad support for Medicaid, and the vast majority of its recipients do not pay prizes or self -share.

Shortly after, Kennedy also testified that he believes Medicaid is “fully paid for” by “the federal government.” That was wrong too: State governments are financing almost one -third of the program.

One does not have to be a health policy winner who is intimately familiar with granular and unclear details to pay attention to these facts. In fact, this is the kind of basic information one assumes that an HHS -nominated would already know.

However, Kennedy stumbled over his ignorance.

During the same consultation, the nominees seemed to struggle with how the federal emergency medicine treatment and Labor Act are implemented in local hospitals. That led to doctors for America former President Meghana Rao to Tell the Washington PostWith reference to Kennedy, “I’m absolutely afraid he doesn’t understand how EMALA works.”

Under normal circumstances, Kennedy would not even be considered for such a position. After all, he is a conspiracy theorist with fringe perceptions and no relevant work experience. In a healthy political environment, his nomination would be considered a sad joke.

In our political environment, however, Republicans are in the Senate Finance Committee seemed to be inclined to support Kennedy anyway. The nominee is now ready to meet another consultation, this time with the Senate Committee for Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. See this space.