Kennedy proposes broader access to health data for research

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday he wants to bring together health information from government programs, medical records, laboratories and state health exchanges so researchers can study chronic disease, a proposal that raises unresolved questions about privacy, consent and oversight. Kennedy made the remarks at a MAHA Institute event. He described a system that could combine immunization records, clinical data, lab results, pharmacy information and insurance claims, including information from Medicare and Medicaid, and make it available to researchers. He said artificial intelligence could help analyze large datasets and identify patterns. Kennedy argued that fragmented records and restrictions imposed by organizations controlling data can limit research. He said the goal was to let qualified researchers investigate questions about chronic disease and the possible roles of food, chemicals, vaccines and other environmental or lifestyle exposures. His comments described an aim, not a detailed federal plan or a confirmed expansion of data access.