ANALYSIS | US faces health crisis: Trump Administration and MAHA take the lead

While exchanging words with senators during a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee a few days ago, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services, threw out a statement: America, the leader of the free world, is also the unhealthiest nation on the planet.

Along those lines, he stressed, "We are the sickest country in the world," before senators questioning him about a series of controversial dismissals at the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“That’s why we have to fire people at the CDC. They did not do their job. This was their job to keep us healthy. And I need to fire some of those people to make sure this doesn’t happen again," he insisted.

The United States is not the "sickest country in the world"; however, it is far sicker than other high-income countries, despite spending more on health care than any other nation, an analysis from The Telegraph reported.

Along those lines, Dr. Stephanie Psaki, former U.S. coordinator for global health security in the White House during the Biden administration, noted, “In some ways, RFK Jr has correctly diagnosed the problem,” she said.

“We spend a lot of money and have worse health outcomes [than Europe],” she told The Telegraph. "We have much higher mortality for young babies, women during childbirth, gun violence, opioids – those early deaths drive down life expectancy. And for a small but increasing group, the lack of health insurance is making people sicker.”

How much does the U.S. spend on healthcare?

According to an analysis from Our World in Data and World Bank data, the United States spends the equivalent of 16.6% of its GDP on health care in recent data (updated from the aforementioned 14.3%, based on increasing trends; the highest proportion worldwide), followed by Germany with 12.8%, France with 12.1%, and the United Kingdom with 11.3%.

However, in the health pillar of the Legatum Prosperity Index 2023, reviewed by The Telegraph, the United States ranks low compared with high-income peers (the overall index ranks 19th globally, but in specific health, it highlights weaknesses in mortality and access, ranking below leaders such as Singapore, Japan, and South Korea, and worse than most of Western Europe).

The index considers factors such as disease, mortality rates, and health outcomes to assess how healthy people are and their access to the services needed to maintain it.

For their part, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea occupy the top spots, while the Central African Republic ranks last, followed by South Sudan, Chad, Lesotho, and Somalia.

In contrast, the United States, although in the overall top 20, is by far the country with the worst relative health in Western Europe or North America on comparative metrics, even worse than countries such as Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka, and Iran on certain indicators of premature mortality.

As the report in The Telegraph reviews, in the United States, where the health care system is highly privatized, much also depends on wealth. In a study published in April 2024 in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers stated that “the gap in survival between the top and bottom wealth quartiles was wider in the United States than in Europe.”

The problem presented by the U.S.

The study also revealed that the wealthiest in the U.S. enjoy similar rates of health to the poorest in northern and western Europe. Along those lines, it follows that the United States, while not the sickest nation in the world, clearly has a problem.

Criticism of Kennedy Jr.'s approach

The media report wonders about whether Kennedy Jr.'s approach can solve the problem. And in that regard, Dr. Psaki notes, “his solutions are entirely wrong. The problem is that [the administration] came in with a plan to cut and destroy, and no plan to build and solve problems.”

At the CDC, the health secretary fired advisers from a key vaccine committee and replaced them with anti-vaccine activists and detractors, in addition to ousting the director, Susan Monarez, after she resisted pressure to change vaccination policy.

Along those lines, Kennedy's tenure also drew criticism: "Weakening the CDC and dismissing evidence will only deepen our health crisis because it erodes trust in science, delays responses to outbreaks, and strips away the expertise needed to guide prevention and care,” said Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease physician in Dallas, Texas.

Dr. Psaki takes aim at Kennedy Jr.

“They should tackle the causes of death – infant mortality, maternal mortality, gun violence, opioid addiction – [and] invest in research to understand what works and fund those programmes," Dr. Psaki said. “[But] it’s easy to destroy, much harder to build.”

Hands on: MAHA Commission moves forward with comprehensive strategy to address children's health

Despite criticism from Dr. Stephanie Psaki, who called Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s solutions “entirely wrong” and noted the lack of a constructive plan, and The Telegraph's report highlighting the controversies surrounding Kennedy's policies, the MAHA this week launched the action plan to address the U.S. health crisis.

Titled "Strategy to Get Our Children Healthy Again," the comprehensive plan, which includes more than 120 executive initiatives, seeks to reverse the failed policies that have driven the nation's chronic disease epidemic with a focus on prevention, research, and cross-sector collaboration.

“The Trump Administration is mobilizing every part of government to confront the childhood chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy said during the launch event in Washington.

“This strategy represents the most sweeping reform agenda in modern history—realigning our food and health systems, driving education, and unleashing science to protect America’s children and families. We are ending the corporate capture of public health, restoring transparency, and putting gold-standard science—not special interests—at the center of every decision,” he added.

Key areas of the MAHA approach

Restoring science by expanding research at NIH on disease prevention, nutrition, environmental exposures, autism, and vaccine injuries; executive actions such as reforming dietary guidelines, defining ultra-processed foods, improving labeling, closing loopholes such as GRAS, raising infant formula standards, and eliminating harmful chemicals; deregulation to streamline organic certifications and support direct farm sales; nutrition awareness campaigns and screen time; and collaborations with the private sector to promote healthy foods and soil health.

An endorsed action plan

Key Administration figures endorsed the plan. Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins highlighted the role of farmers, promoting commitments to eliminate artificial colors, restrict junk food in SNAP, and encourage regenerative farming practices.

For his part, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin stressed environmental protection for future generations, while FDA commissioner Dr. Marty Makary advocated a proactive approach, and NIH director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya called for ensuring longer, healthier lives for children.

Far from holding back in the face of criticism, the Trump Administration is getting "down to business" with MAHA, implementing a long-term vision on transformative policies that prioritize innovation, transparency, and collaboration.

Despite controversies, the plan would position the United States as a leader in safe food supply and in the fight against "corporate capture" in public health, starting off on the right foot in the mission to make the nation healthy again.