Two protesters decrying federal health care spending cuts briefly disrupted an event featuring U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr in mid-Michigan Tuesday.
On a farm southwest of Lansing, Kennedy spoke about the need to reduce the nation’s obesity rates and improve healthy eating to an audience primarily made up of farmers and others supporting his Making America Healthy Again agenda.
Kennedy stressed improving Americans' diet will also help other problems, including mental illness.
“One of the ways restoring our country today and helping to beginning to end this mental health crisis is by changing the food and getting Americans the opportunity (to) buy from local farmers,” said Kennedy.
But near the end of the event, two unidentified protesters began slamming plans to dramatically slash federal health care spending. For example, Medicaid, a primarily health care insurance program for tens of millions of low income Americans, faces deep cuts over the next 10 years.
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill passed during the first year of the Trump administration, the federal government is expected to slash Medicaid spending by a trillion dollars over the next decade.
But Kennedy defended the administration’s record on Medicaid spending, calling Medicaid cuts “a myth people believe.”
“In fact the Congressional Budget Office just issued a report that said that Medicaid under our current plan is going to increase by 47% over the next ten years,” said Kennedy.
Before Kennedy’s event, Progress Michigan, a liberal advocacy group, issued a statement criticizing Kennedy’s event and the Trump administration’s record on health care spending.
“Right now, Michigan families are facing a healthcare crisis of epic proportions,” said Justin Mendoza, executive director of Progress Michigan is a written statement, “71% of Michigan Affordable Care Act plans saw premiums increase by 15 percent or more this year, and premiums jumped by 114% on average under these plans nationwide.”
A Progress Michigan spokesman denied the protesters at the Kennedy event were affiliated with their organization.
