Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
'Poisoning Poor People': John James Questions RFK Jr. About Junk Food & Food Deserts
Forbes Breaking News
Follow
7/3/2025
During a House Energy Committee hearing last week, Rep. John James (R-MI) asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about junk food & food deserts.
Category
š
News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
For five minutes of questioning. Mr. Secretary, welcome. Thank you for your time and your service.
00:05
I am grateful for you being here. We've gotten to have some real good conversations here today
00:10
because when it comes to the health of this country, as has been said many times before,
00:13
we do not have a health care system. We have a sick care system. I'm just going to jump directly
00:18
to my questions here. In your time and your research, do you have any objectives or any
00:27
ideas on how to reverse the perverse incentives and some of the abuses that are happening with
00:31
big companies and big government that are hurting people right now? I mean, at every level of the
00:39
system, there are, as you say, it's just a bundle of perverse incentives that encourage people that
00:45
basically put every actor in the system, pharmaceutical companies, providers, hospitals,
00:51
and insurance companies in an advantageous position if they increase the number of sick
00:57
Americans and the level of our illness. And the way that we need to change that broadly is to
01:03
realign the incentives that people are getting paid to actually make people better. So we want
01:09
outcome-based medical care. We want value-based medical care. We're working through the Center
01:16
for Medical Intervention for CMI at CNN to explore a number of pilot projects. And we'll do just that.
01:24
And then we want to roll them out across the system. But we're looking for every opportunity,
01:28
and I had meetings all this week, including with all the big insurance companies that will do exactly
01:35
that. They want to do it too. They understand this is not what anybody wants. And we've spoken with
01:39
insurance companies too, and that's a big issue. But another big issue in the United States is we are still
01:45
treating all calories equal, and they should not be. Ultra-processed junk food doesn't stack up
01:51
to the calorie from an apple or fresh Michigan produce. We all know that we need to step up and
01:56
address the fact that ultra-processed foods drive obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. But in Congress,
02:01
we're still tiptoeing around the fact that less than 10 percent of Americans even follow current
02:06
guidelines. Current food system is poisoning poor people, and it's wrong. This drives up costs
02:14
in our health care system or sick care system, and it drives up our national debt. It's a national
02:19
security issue. Are there any plans that you can share here today to address the food deserts
02:26
in urban areas and rural areas across states like Michigan? You mentioned changing some incentives.
02:32
Well, the leading areas before people get sick in the first place is a great place to do it.
02:36
Yes, Congressman. The first thing that we need to do is to recalibrate the dietary guidelines, and
02:45
those are due in December. We got a 453-page document from the Biden administration that was just the
02:53
product of the same kind of industry control that put Froot Loops at the top of the food pyramid.
03:01
And we're now going to give Americans a four- or five-page document that tells them
03:07
what they should be looking for, particularly in their locality. And when we do that, it's going
03:12
to drive good food. It's going to reduce the amount of processed food in our school lunch programs,
03:18
in our military, in our hospitals, and other institutions. And it's going to drive good food.
03:24
That's going to create markets for good food all over the country, and that's one of the ways we
03:28
penetrate the food deserts. Very good. There's also programs under Medicaid to make sure that
03:33
people in food deserts, on Indian reservations, in urban areas, etc., can get good food.
03:40
Very good. We absolutely have to take care of the poorest of the poor. We need to make sure that folks
03:44
who deserve it can have support from us. By the way, we're going to have the dietary
03:53
guidelines out at least by August. So we're going to be months early, and I'm working with
03:58
Brooke Rollins on that. And they're going to be very good. The government being early on something,
04:02
that's great. Secretary Kennedy, yesterday you and CMS Administrator Oz secured an industry pledge
04:08
to fix our broken prior authorization system. I hear stories from places like Flint, Michigan,
04:13
where Dr. Bobby Mukamala sought prior authorization for full cancer screening after his patient's stage
04:22
one tonsil cancer diagnosis so that he could determine the best treatment outcomes. When the
04:27
patient finally received the PET scan three weeks later, the cancer progressed to stage two. These prior
04:32
authorization reforms are critically necessary. What are you talking to industry folks about to hold
04:37
them accountable for their pledges? The largest companies in the industry, and I brought them all
04:43
together, have now pledged, made the pledge to us yesterday, that they are going to get rid of
04:49
80 percent of the prior authorizations. And they're also going to make their systems interoperable. So
05:01
it's much easier for a doctor to very quickly, before you leave the office, you should have that prior
05:06
authorization. The gentleman's time has expired.
Recommended
2:52
|
Up next
ICJ Landmark Climate Opinion Declares Legal Obligation To Protect Current and Future Generations
TIME
yesterday
5:14
'We Want To Light A Fire Under Biotech': RFK Jr. Defends Layoffs At FDA
Forbes Breaking News
7/3/2025
4:58
'Do You Think Our Country Spends Too Much On Scientific Research?': John Hickenlooper Grills RFK Jr.
Forbes Breaking News
5/16/2025
5:02
'You're Unaware Of What Your Own Department's Website States': Robin Kelly Mercilessly Grills RFK Jr
Forbes Breaking News
7/7/2025
5:10
'How Is That Happening?': RFK Jr. Surprised By AOC's Claims About Insurance 'Defrauding' Government
Forbes Breaking News
6/24/2025
5:21
Kat Cammack Asks Sec. RFK Jr. What Heās Doing To Find Migrant Children āLostā During Biden Admin
Forbes Breaking News
6/30/2025
5:10
Nanette BarragaĢn Has Tense Exchange With RFK Jr. About Reported Cuts To Alzheimer's Research
Forbes Breaking News
6/25/2025
5:16
'I Asked You A Simple Question': Diana Degette Does Not Let Up On Sec. RFK Jr. In Tense Grilling
Forbes Breaking News
6/24/2025
5:00
'Do You Continue To Stand By That?': Josh Hawley Questions RFK Jr. About Mifepristone Study
Forbes Breaking News
5/19/2025
7:27
Secretary RFK Jr Tells Lawmakers: 'Ultra-processed Food Is A Genocide On The American Indian'
Forbes Breaking News
5/14/2025
6:01
RFK Jr. Says Ending Gain Of Function & 'Radical Gender Ideology' Research Are Among His Top Goals
Forbes Breaking News
7/7/2025
3:06
Kevin Kiley Urges RFK Jr. To Investigate CA Obamacare Exchange's Release Of Personal Health Info
Forbes Breaking News
5/1/2025
4:59
'So Are You Saying That Senator Cassidy Lied?': Kim Schrier Grills RFK Jr About Firing Vaccine Panel
Forbes Breaking News
6/24/2025
2:18:00
Secretary RFK Jr. Testifies Before The House Appropriations Committee
Forbes Breaking News
5/14/2025
5:18
'Were You Are Aware Of This?': Troy Carter Presses RFK Jr. Over 'Devastating' Cuts To HIV Program
Forbes Breaking News
6/25/2025
5:03
'This Is A National Tragedy': Marianette Miller-Meeks Questions RFK Jr. About Opioid Epidemic
Forbes Breaking News
7/3/2025
5:11
'There've Been Gaps In Our Ability To Preform Our Duties': RFK Jr. Admits Layoffs Have Hurt HHS
Forbes Breaking News
7/3/2025
1:07
RFK Jr.: This Is How We'll Help Consumers Know What Targeted Food Dyes Are In Food Products
Forbes Breaking News
4/23/2025
5:44
'They Found Prisoners Getting The Grants, Didn't They?': John Kennedy Brings Receipts To Question RFK Jr.
Forbes Breaking News
5/20/2025
6:01
RFK Jr .Says Ending Gain Of Function & 'Radical Gender Ideology' Research Are Among His Top Goals
Forbes Breaking News
7/3/2025
5:11
'You've Accepted $400,000!': Jake Auchincloss & RFK Jr. Trade Blows Over 'Conflicts Of Interest'
Forbes Breaking News
7/3/2025
2:13
RFK Jr. Defends Focus On Autism And Food Dyes In His First Weeks As HHS Secretary
Forbes Breaking News
4/23/2025
1:02
Trump Health Secretary Nominee RFK Jr. Grilled in Senate Confirmation Hearing
TaiwanPlus News
1/30/2025
5:23
RFK Jr. Directly Confronted About Delay In Clinical Trial From Woman Suffering From C
Forbes Breaking News
5/15/2025
5:04
Greg Landsman Presses RFK Jr. Over Head Start Funding Flip Flop & Layoffs
Forbes Breaking News
7/3/2025