Chronic Disease

The Chronic Disease hub covers what the MAHA coalition calls the central problem in American health: rising rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, autoimmune conditions, and pediatric metabolic dysfunction. The argument running through HHS messaging and movement publications is that the conventional treat-the-symptom model is mismatched to the actual driver, which they describe as upstream metabolic injury from diet, environmental exposures, sedentary lifestyles, and overprescription. That framing is contested in mainstream public-health circles. We cover both sides as news.

Federal activity tracks toward funding and rule-making. The Make America Healthy Again Commission report, released May 2025, declared chronic disease prevention the organizing priority across HHS sub-agencies. NIH, under Director Jay Bhattacharya, has been redirecting research priorities. CMS, under Administrator Mehmet Oz, has emphasized preventive-care reimbursement and Medicare Advantage reform. Congressional hearings — notably the September 2024 Ways and Means subcommittee hearing where Mark Hyman and Calley Means testified — have produced a bipartisan record on the broad chronic-disease problem even as specific interventions remain contested.

From the roster, Mark Hyman, Robert Lustig, and Gary Taubes are the most-cited movement voices on metabolic dysfunction and the role of refined carbohydrates and ultra-processed foods. Max Lugavere focuses on neurodegeneration and lifestyle. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has built the chronic-disease frame into his public statements as HHS Secretary and into the MAHA Commission’s organizing logic. We track which of their published positions enter formal HHS policy and which remain advocacy.