NEWS

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will likely be a part of a second Trump administration’s HHS, where he could play a major role in shaping policy as the department grapples with cybersecurity and legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act and its Medicare drug negotiation policy.

In his victory speech early Wednesday morning, President-elect Donald Trump praised Kennedy.
“He’s going to help make America healthy again. … He wants to do some things, and we’re going to let him get to it,” Trump said. “Go have a good time, Bobby.”

The sprawling agency’s budget for the next fiscal year has to be decided by Congress, creating uncertainty about how much leeway the department will have to execute policy or ensure whether some offices will remain open, including those focused on gun violence and climate change.

“A lot of transition ends up being an assessment of where the department is now and what the agencies have and what they need,” Lauren Aronson, a partner at Mehlman Consulting who worked at HHS during the Obama administration, said.

Here’s what Trump’s HHS faces:
Medicare drug negotiation: Under the Inflation Reduction Act, CMS must publish its rationale for the negotiated prices of the first 10 drugs next year. The new prices take effect in 2026.
However, drugmakers and industry groups are fighting the law in court, and congressional Republicans — who are projected to control both chambers — oppose it.

Immigration: HHS is responsible for the care of migrant children, and the new administration would come under pressure to address the surge of migrants arriving through the Southern border. In fiscal 2023, HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement received referrals for more than 118,000 unaccompanied minors who needed sponsor placement.

During the first Trump administration, the controversial family separation policy tasked the department with reuniting children taken from their parents. However, the administration’s refusal to share information with Congress after parents claimed they didn’t know their children’s location hampered the efforts.

Health technology, privacy and AI: The next HHS secretary will face surging cybersecurity attacks in the health care sector, especially ransomware.

And HHS will also have the challenge of regulating artificial intelligence as it booms in health care.

At the FDA, officials have been slowly expanding AI guidance for medical devices, with that work expected to continue in drug development.

Opioids: Talk on how to handle the opioid crisis has toughened across the aisle, with Republicans and Democrats touting how they cracked down, or plan to, on fentanyl traffickers, as POLITICO has reported.

And HHS’ work will continue: A 2024 funding law requires state Medicaid plans to cover medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder. It also created a permanent state Medicaid option allowing treatment of substance use disorder at institutions that treat mental illness to help expand access to care.