What You Should Know:
– Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. today announced the repeal of federal policy that financially rewarded hospitals for reporting staff vaccination rates, a policy he described as coercive and a denial of informed consent.
– “Medical decisions should be made based on one thing: the wellbeing of the person – never on a financial bonus or a government mandate,” said Secretary Kennedy. “Doctors deserve the freedom to use their training, follow the science, and speak the truth-without fear of punishment.”
Restoring Medical Autonomy and Removing Financial Pressure
The policy, originally established under the Biden administration’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) inpatient payment rule, tied hospital reimbursement directly to the reporting of staff vaccination rates. The data collected was published on the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network, which Secretary Kennedy described as a tool for public shaming rather than public health.
The policy repeals are part of a broader HHS effort to restore medical autonomy in federally funded programs and root out financial and regulatory pressures that incentivize physicians towards pre-scripted medical decisions instead of individualized, evidence-based care.
