RFK Jr., HHS unveil sweeping addiction reforms, aim to reverse Biden-era ‘failures’ 

The Trump administration unveiled plans this week to overhaul how the federal government treats addiction, aiming to end what officials describe as a system that profits from relapse rather than recovery. 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. outlined the initiative, dubbed the Great American Recovery, which targets the nation’s roughly 20 million people struggling with addiction and the estimated $93 billion spent annually on treatment, according to HHS. 

The comprehensive plan would “strengthen prevention, expand treatment and carry out the executive order President Trump signed last week to ignite the Great American Recovery,” HHS said in a social media post. 

Kennedy said Trump “has been extremely compassionate about addiction” and credited him with “the drive to solve this problem.”  

A centerpiece of the effort is a $100 million program called STREETS – Safety Through Recovery, Engagement and Evidence-based Treatment and Supports – that will be distributed to eight programs. 

The plan also includes $10 million for community-based, court-ordered outpatient treatment for adults, which officials say will promote recovery while helping families stay together. 

Incentivizing sustained recovery 

Kennedy, who has spoken publicly about his own past heroin addiction, said the reforms are designed to shift the system toward sustained recovery. 

Under the current model, he said, providers are paid each time a person seeks treatment, including after relapses. The new approach would introduce financial incentives for keeping people sober long term. 

“We’ve developed ways of following the addict for several years and having somebody take ownership of that addict and say, ‘OK, if I pay you as a rehab, I’m not going to pay you a daily rate so that the guy relapses in two months and you get paid again,’” Kennedy said. 

“I’m going to pay you one cash disbursement for him for a year, for two years or three years, and really manage the care,” he said. “You’re responsible for that individual, so if he shows up on your doorstep again, you’re going to lose money, and that gives the economic incentive to that rehab to do everything in their power to make sure that that addict does not return.” 

“When you align the economic incentives with the health care outcomes that we’re looking for, behavior will change,” he added. 

Embracing faith-based solutions 

Kennedy also voiced strong support for faith-based recovery programs, which he said are “scientifically proven to work” because they connect people to community. 

“Addiction is disease of isolation,” he said. “God talks to human beings through many ways, through organized religions, through the great books of those religions, through wise people and the prophets, and through nature. … When we cut off our relationships with other human beings, we lose that access to the Divine, and that is a healing power.” 

Kennedy, who continues to attend 12-step meetings, warned of what he called a “spiritual malaise in this country” and said loneliness is a primary driver of addiction and mental illness. 

“You’re seeing record numbers of addictions now,” he warned. “The highest cause of death by overdose is in Americans under 45 years old. And we can’t fix that by treating the addiction alone. We have to treat the cause of it.” 

HHS said the reforms are intended to improve outcomes, keep families together and “reverse Biden-era failures that fueled overdoses (and) homelessness.” Biden’s open border increased the flow of illegal drugs into the country – including fentanyl, spiking overdoses. 

Kennedy said successful recovery efforts would also reduce strain on law enforcement and emergency medical services, adding that the plan builds on $45 million provided to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help “revolutionize” sober housing. 

“We need to not just treat the addict and then put him back into the environment that was making him sick or contributing to his illness,” he said. “We need to give him some stability, or her some stability, and from there, they can get employment, develop relationships and develop independence. 

“Without sober housing, treatment is going to fail.” 

The reforms were well-received on social media, with The Center for Urban Renewal and Education calling them “exactly” what is needed. 

“The old rehab model is built to profit from endless relapses – more detox cycles = more billing,” the group posted on X. “Flip it to outcome-based care where providers are held accountable for real, lasting recovery, not repeat customers.”