U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. showed just how “out of touch” he is after claiming $40,000 a month for rehab was affordable for Americans.
On Wednesday, RFK Jr. presented the health department’s fiscal 2026 budget to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. During an interaction with California Rep. Josh Harder, the health secretary attempted to defend sweeping cuts to Medicaid, a health insurance program for low- and middle-income households. But Harder pushed back.
Harder told RFK Jr. that the rehab program Kennedy participated in to overcome his heroin addiction would cost Americans $286,000 out of pocket today.
“There are, Congressman, there are many really gold star rehabs that do it for a tiny fraction, like $20,000 to $40,000 a month,” RFK Jr. interrupted to say in an X clip shared by journalist Aaron Rupar Wednesday.
To quote man with obviously missing parts of his brain and potentially a ghoul about to go feral from bathing in sewage water: “I don’t think people should take medical advice from me”
I am currently living off of SSDI.
Because I am disabled.
$40k is almost double what I get in a year, for literally all of my living expenses, rent, food, etc.
I make too much to qualify for Food Stamps / SNAP, too much to qualify for most low income housing… but not enough to qualify for the vast majority of studio/one bedrooms… in one of the lowest CoL states in the US.
And this fucking sewage water slurping, brain worm having, insane anti vaxxer man thinks its reasonable to pay double my yearly income a month for rehab.
… Well, at least I’m not homeless anymore, seems obvious now the plan for them is genocide.
This company is selling paperclips for 8000 per paperclip, how can anyone afford that?
Well this other company sells them for 295 per paperclip so thats like a fraction of the price…
It’s still a ridiculous price, that no “normal” person would ever pay for a paperclip.
Hell I misread that as per year, not per month, and I still thought it was ridiculous.
I did too, that’s nuts. So rehab is only an option for the ultra wealthy, fuck everyone else, I guess.
The ultra wealthy is everyone. Not ultra wealthy? Not a person, opinions don’t matter. Might as well be a gnat.
yeah, like it would be insane to say that spending your entire year’s income on rehab is affordable, or even half of it
then i read it again
Give it a few more years, and people won’t get what the joke was supposed to be anymore…
The only question is will it be because a banana actually costs $10 or because banana’s died out from pollution after nature was declared “woke”.
The cavendish banana, which most people these days know as a “normal banana”, is already slowly dying out. You may have noticed that normal store-bought bananas do not have any seeds in them. That means the only way they can multiply is through farmers constantly manually removing suckers from their base and replanting those as a new plant, which in turn means all modern cavendish plants are essentially clones of each other. Which in turn means banana plnatations are an even more extreme kind of monoculture than wheat or corn, which makes them absurdly susceptible to fungal infections. Once a fungus develops that specialises in that particular plant, there is no way to stop the process.
It has happened before, in the 1950ies, with the previous “standard banana”, the Gros Michel, and it’s happening again now.
“It’s only rehab Michael. How much could it cost, $40,000?”
I misread this as “being able to afford rehab if you make 40,000/yr” which is a bit silly because that’s just over $20 per hour. But taking it PER MONTH means this costs $55/hr as a subscription type model. I’d wager most Americans don’t make that. Certainly not one struggling with addiction. He actually said 20-40k, so he clearly has no idea. “Is a Banana $10” moment.
Rehab, according to google, generically hosts people for 30-60-90 days. (I could not find anything as to what a Gold Star rehab facility is other than the brand Goldstar with a single quick google search) With a proper reading of the headline, this means 40k-80k-120k which, for the average American is the price of a new car up to a home loans. Translating that means a 5 - 30 year loan. Imagine taking out a 30 year loan to spend 3 months somewhere. Rediculous
To add to that, most people end up going back to rehab at some point whether they have slipped back into addiction or they are at a place in life they feel might lead to addiction again
Rehab saves lives better than removing drugs from the street ever will, but saving lives isn’t really the goal for the government
You mean 40-80-120 no? If 1 month is 40k then 3 months is 120k
Uh…I wasn’t fully awake when I was typing, but yes
The median household income in the US, as of 2024 is about $80k.
The 25%tile is $40k, so a quarter of American households live off of 40k a year or less.
You obviously cannot work while at an inpatient rehab.
A year of rehab, at $40k a month, would be as expensive as a house. As you mention, a 90 day stay would be … well, the price of a new truck or SUV.
RFK Jr is apparently still quite high on some high quality shit to think this price range is anywhere near reasonable.
Lop off a zero, cut it in half, now that would be approaching kinda sorta plausible.
Back before it imploded, the CEO of Enron had six houses in Aspen. He needed to have his entire entourage travel with him on vacation, lest he accidentally interact with a non-billionaire.
Why does this guy always look like a nuclear cooked potato who came to life
You say that as if that’s not what he is.
Dude’s a zombie
That’s fine Then you’ll die from hunger. Which is socially acceptable. And not at all a problem in the greater scheme of… things. I mean as long as you can find someone that pays for your funeral, it’s cool.
“A salary”!?!
Bro that’s 5 times more than I ever expect to make
