Ohio legislators, medical leader fear vaccine hesitancy, health care impacts if RFK Jr. confirmed

 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

By: Susan Tebben – Ohio Capital Journal

State legislators and medical experts in Ohio are decrying the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Democratic lawmakers and a leader at the Toledo Lucas County Health Department expressed particular concern over access to health care and the future of vaccination requirements and information.

“I think the question is are you going to trust somebody to run our entire health enterprise in this country who has no scientific background to understand why doctors, nurses, dentists are recommending that we actually do these things,” said Dr. Jonathan Ross, board president for the TLCHD.

State Rep. Michele Grim, D-Toledo, who holds a master’s in public health, said the comments Kennedy, Jr., has made about vaccines in the past makes her nervous about his leadership of a federal medical agency with a multi-billion-dollar budget.

“I know that vaccines save lives,” Grim said during a press conference hosted by Protect Our Care. “We eradicated small pox with vaccines, we almost eradicated polio, but now that is coming back because of the vaccine hesitancy.”

Grim also takes issue with Kennedy’s “arcane” views on HIV/AIDS, something she focused on as part of her public health education. She said the views he’s expressed, are “very problematic in that space.”

Ross, Grim and her fellow state Reps. Terrence Upchurch and Elgin Rogers said they hope the Trump administration will reconsider Kennedy, Jr.’s appointment, but failing that, they urged the U.S. Senate to conduct thorough questioning of the nominee, ultimately stopping the appointment.

“I think that this appointment is probably the most dangerous, because it has a great impact on the public health, not just of the people of Ohio, but everyone in this country,” Upchurch, D-Cleveland said.

Ross and the legislators are concerned about the state of the overall national health care system with the appointment of Kennedy, Jr., but they see potential problems at the state level as well.

“I think what impacts we’ll see is there could be less funding for our health departments, there could be some vaccine hesitancy, and I think we’ve seen that on the local level and also on the state level,” Grim said.

Ross pointed to the possible reversal of insurance protections for Americans up to age 26 and undoing of Medicaid expansion as issues that could lead to increased health issues, and increased economic issues on top of everything else.

With a loss of coverage in the Medicaid space, and if threats the Trump administration has made previously about repealing the Affordable Care Act come to fruition, crippling medical debt could fall on more and more Americans, leading to bankruptcies, along with unnecessary hospitalizations because of a lack of health coverage.

“Being poor is also very bad for your health,” Ross said.

Rogers, D-Toledo, said the disparities that already exist in health care for communities of color could also get worse with leaders lacking the information they need to make positive change.

“If you have leaders who don’t understand the science, who are willing to ignore the science, they’re going to ignore other factors across the state of Ohio and that impact the people of Ohio who come from the most trying conditions,” Rogers said.

A way forward could include state-level legislative action to protect certain aspects of the health care system that may be impacted by the new administration, and the new appointment. Ross said Medicaid work requirements that were considered in Ohio and federally would not be the way forward, and keeping an eye on efforts to require work as part of the Medicaid eligibility would help preserve the health care landscape.

“People are more likely to be able to work if they have health care coverage, so precluding health care coverage for people who are not working is the opposite of what you want to do,” according to Ross.

The legislators pledged to keep public health at the forefront of the minority caucuses priorities, though they face a tough slog leading a charge in a Statehouse with GOP supermajorities in both chambers.

“I can see a world where there is another effort to attack vaccinations (on the state level),” Upchurch said.

For Grim, whether Kennedy, Jr., is confirmed or not, it’s up to legislators to make sure the public and their fellow legislators know that a loss of Medicaid benefits or any hits to public health would negatively impact all Ohioans, not just a small minority.

“We need to make sure that our caucus is a voice for public health and the benefits of vaccines,” Grim said.