by Newt Gingrich

Everyone who cares about the lives and health of our fellow Americans should read the Make America Healthy Again Commission’s Make Our Children Healthy Again report.

It is a devastating 72-page outline of the steady increase in sickness among American children and makes the case for profound change in our approach to health.

This is not a new theme for me. In 2003, I wrote “Saving Lives and Saving Money: Transforming Health and Healthcare” with Dana Pavey and Anne Woodbury.

We put saving lives first because health is a moral issue. Saving money is secondary to keeping people healthy. Today, we wait until people get sick, then we spend vast sums treating preventable diseases. This isn’t health care. It is sick care. It’s ineffective and unsustainable.

Despite 22 years of work, I found it virtually impossible to get people to understand the human need for a better system – and the extraordinary fiscal benefits that would come with it. The authority of the old order within the sick care system was enormous. The amount of money tied up in the system made it nearly impossible to enact the scale of change needed to start saving lives and saving money.

Then came the MAHA movement. The emergence of Health and Human Resources Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – and President Donald J. Trump’s support for him – may be changing the national debate decisively toward replacing sick care with health care.

As I wrote in my new book, “Trump’s Triumph,” an effective health care system would focus on disease prevention and early intervention to minimize illness. It would be dramatically less expensive than the current system.

Many fiscal conservatives are worried about unsustainable deficit spending, the rising national debt, and the crushing interest on the debt. They should start with a deep, aggressive, and comprehensive focus on the MAHA Make Our Children Healthy Again approach.

Consider these facts about the current sick care system.

Chronic illness drives nearly all U.S. health care spending. Eighty-seven percent of all health care costs are linked to chronic conditions. While these diseases disproportionately impact older Americans and Medicare, they are also a major burden for those under 65 years old.

Health care is the biggest driver of federal spending. In 2024, the federal government spent $1.9 trillion on health care. That is more than one-in-four federal dollars. No serious plan to balance the budget can ignore this reality.

The current efforts to control spending within the framework of the sick care system guarantee practical and political failure. It is wrong to control or cut off spending for people who are sick. It is inhumane, immoral, and guarantees maximum resistance.

Fiscal conservatives must pivot from politically dangerous fights within the old sick care system to politically popular arguments for creating a true health care system. If we can keep Americans from getting diabetes, heart disease, or Alzheimer’s, they will applaud and support us. The unbelievable amount of money we would save from not needing to treat these diseases will go a long way toward curing our fiscal ills and balancing the budget. This will earn even more support.

Most people don’t want to go to the doctor or hospital – but they want to know they can if they need to. They would much prefer to live healthy lives with minimal medical costs.

The Trump administration’s MAHA initiative is pointing the way forward. The effort launched under President Trump recognized that chronic disease prevention—not just treatment—is essential to national health and fiscal sustainability. MAHA focuses on reducing obesity, promoting nutrition and exercise, and expanding awareness of lifestyle-related disease.

We know lifestyle medicine works—and saves money.

At the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Mike Roizen’s wellness program incentivized employees to meet health goals. It saved $1 billion for the system and $300 million in employee premiums.

The Rosen Hotels’ self-insured model – which includes on-site care, prevention-first policies, and low-cost generic drugs – has saved an estimated $400 million compared to industry norms.

In another well-validated breakthrough, the holistic Ornish Lifestyle Program uses diet, exercise, and social support. It helped 77 percent of patients avoid costly heart surgeries and cut health costs by 50 percent in the first year.

A key step toward moving from sick care to health care will be confronting the crazy, destructive way Washington bean counters refuse to score prevention.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) ignores most long-term savings from disease prevention. In 2024, the House passed a bipartisan bill by Rep. Michael Burgess to fix this, but the Senate failed to act. As I write in “Trump’s Triumph,” we must recognize that the current CBO scores are simply false. Further, huge, well-financed special interest groups – coupled with a lack of media understanding or coverage – make it harder to move from sick care to health care.

Thanks to the courage of President Trump and Secretary Kennedy, we have a real opportunity to break out of the downward cycle. We can choose to leave the old sick care system behind and instead create a genuine, less expensive health care system.

This will allow Americans to live longer, healthier lives – and replace the destructive, bankrupting sick care system which is eroding our health and fiscal security.

If Congress, the White House, and everyday Americans work together, we can Make America Healthy Again.

For more commentary from Newt Gingrich, visit Gingrich360.com. Also, subscribe to the Newt’s World podcast.

Do you want access to more of Newt’s commentary? Become a member of Newt’s Inner Circle to get even more involved in our nation’s happenings. If you join today, you’ll receive a free autographed copy of one of Newt’s best sellers.