Robert F. Kennedy Jr. insisted he couldn't hear the question when a Democratic senator challenged him to say what the Health and Human Services Agency would do to keep prices low for seniors.
The HHS secretary faced a tough round of bipartisan questioning in a Senate Finance Committee hearing Thursday, where Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) asked him about specific provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and how they would impact costs and access for various medical treatments.
"You agency is responsible for that negotiation and you don't know about it," Cortez Masto said. "Let me ask you another question: How much are Medicare Part D enrollees expected to pay for prescription drug coverage next year?"
Kennedy claimed that was currently up for debate, and Cortez Masto told him they would pay up to $50 a month, a $15 increase over last year, so she asked about the expected cost increase for Part B premiums.
"I don't know," he stammered. "I talked to Dr. Oz about it yesterday, it's 16 percent."
Cortez Masto corrected his citation purportedly from Mehmet Oz, the former TV host and current administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, saying those premiums were expected to go up by 11.6 percent, or around $21.50 a month more.
"Again, last time we were before me, you couldn't answer the questions of the very agency and the authority that you have to address these issues," the senator said. "You know, next year, seniors and families are facing higher health care costs across the board – 23 million people on Medicare with a standalone Part D drug plan could see their premiums rise to $50 a month, up from $35, because the Trump administration is cutting the federal subsidy that has been keeping costs down. Part B premiums will jump 11.6 percent to $206 a month in 2026, one of the largest single-year increases in decades, and so for an administration that claims it is lowering costs, my question to you is, what are you going to do to keep costs down for seniors? "
Kennedy insisted he was already working to keep costs down, and Cortez Masto asked him to be specific.
"I mean, the Program Integrity Bill, that is the first action that I did when I got in," Kennedy answered. "It's one of the earliest actions in the history of a complex regulation by an HHS secretary. A Congressional Budget Office has said that that's brought premiums down by 5 percent, and the Congressional Budget Office, which does not like to acknowledge anything that we do."
Cortez Masto asked how that specifically impacted seniors, and he asked her to repeat the question.
"Does that impact seniors?" she said. "I know my time is running out. Does that impact seniors? What you just talked about, you're lowering costs, I'm asking you specifically."
Kennedy insisted his agency was lowering costs, gesturing as if the efforts were self-evident, and she asked again, but he again pretended not to hear the question.
"Does it impact?" he said, shaking his head as the senator expressed exasperation. "I didn't hear the question."
"I appreciate the chairman's indulgence here," Cortez Masto said. "My concern is you can't answer the questions. The very agency has oversight over these issues and controls the levers to lower costs for seniors, and you can't answer that simple question."
"I didn't hear your question," Kennedy protested as the senator closed her notebook.
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