Kennedy also claimed that Medicaid is fully paid for by the federal government — it's not; states and federal taxpayers fund it. He also said most Americans have purchased a Medicare Advantage plan, when only about 1 in 10 Americans have.
His apparent misstatements about the program were peppered in between suggestions that he would seek to push privatization of the programs, repeatedly saying that most Americans like private insurance and that they dislike the government run versions of the programs.
Kennedy is seeking to lead a $1.7 trillion department of Health and Human Services agency that will oversee vaccine recommendations as well as food inspections, hospital oversight and funding for hundreds of community health clinics.
In sometimes heated exchanges on Wednesday, Kennedy denied that he is anti-vaccine. But Kennedy, who pointed out that his children are vaccinated, acknowledged he has asked “uncomfortable questions” about vaccinations.