A nonprofit group with ties to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. solicited payment from companies in exchange for access to top agency officials at an upcoming event, according to documents viewed by Bloomberg News.
Ahead of the MAHA Summit on Sept. 29, a menu of sponsorship options was circulated to companies and consultants with various tiers of support, according to people familiar with the solicitations who weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The highest level, quoted at $300,000 to some prospective sponsors, guaranteed a speaking slot at the event “with meaningful input on the panel composition and topic” as well as a “private dinner for 30 guests” with Kennedy and Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The event presenter, MAHA Center, is part of a web of interconnected groups run by Tony Lyons, Kennedy’s longtime book publisher. Lyons co-founded a political action committee that supported Kennedy’s failed 2024 presidential bid and is now affiliated with several organizations leading the Make America Healthy Again movement, including a PAC and nonprofits.
Lawmakers have raised concerns about fundraising by Kennedy’s allied groups. Federal health officials also frequently appear on Zoom calls with Kennedy’s political supporters. Kennedy has disputed speculation that he plans to run for president in 2028.
Health and Human Services spokesperson Emily Hilliard said in a written statement that department officials listed as speakers “were not involved in the planning or sponsorship activities for the MAHA Summit and were not aware of the sponsorship arrangements described.”
Summit sponsors
Kennedy has long criticized the health agencies he now oversees as being captured by corporate influences they are meant to regulate.
Companies that have signed on to sponsor the MAHA Summit include Anthropic, OpenAI, Walmart Inc., Hims & Hers Health Inc., Centene Corp., Tempus AI Inc. and Compass Pathways, according to the event website. It’s unclear how much each contributed, though the most prominently featured logos are sleep apnea device maker ResMed Inc., whose chief medical officer is appearing on a panel with National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, and cancer screening company Grail Inc., whose chief executive is speaking in another session.
Grail’s blood-based cancer screening test is facing review by a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel next week. CEO Josh Ofman said in a statement that the company welcomes opportunities to engage with policymakers, patients and advocates. Its participation at the event “reflects our commitment to improving Americans’ health by creating a healthcare system with greater focus on prediction, prevention and early detection.”
Several panels at the conference feature companies that are regulated by various divisions of Health and Human Services. Speakers from the Trump administration include Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, HHS Principal Deputy Chief of Staff Stefanie Spear, HHS senior advisor Calley Means and Bhattacharya. Kennedy isn’t currently on the event agenda, but there is a placeholder for a conversation with “special guests.”
‘Doesn’t seem appropriate’
Donald Sherman, president of the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the situation raised questions about whether officials should participate.
“If they didn’t know, they might have some plausible deniability,” he said. “But now that they do know, it certainly doesn’t seem appropriate for the secretary to attend an event that is being marketed to companies with business before the agency.”
One panel on the agenda features psychedelics companies, including Compass Pathways, and is being moderated by Health and Human Services Deputy General Counsel Matt Zorn, who plays a leading role in psychedelics policy at the agency.
“Compass Pathways’ participation in the MAHA Summit reflects our commitment to engaging wherever meaningful conversations about mental health reform are happening,” the company said in a statement.
There are two AI panels, with executives from OpenAI and Anthropic. Another session is called “Affordability First” and features executives from health insurers Elevance Health Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and industry trade group AHIP.
“AHIP welcomes opportunities to engage in dialogue about how to reduce the incidence of chronic disease and make healthcare more affordable and accessible for Americans,” the trade group said in a statement.
Other companies and individuals listed as participants or sponsors of the event declined to comment or didn’t return requests for comment.
‘A reasonable question’
The executive branch is responsible for vetting speaking requests for administration officials, said Richard Painter, a professor of corporate law at the University of Minnesota who served as a chief ethics lawyer in President George W. Bush’s White House. The administration normally seeks to ensure the names of those officials aren’t used to help an outside organization raise funds.
Lyons, the president of MAHA Center and a central figure in Kennedy’s orbit, addressed an inquiry about the event’s solicitations for sponsors during a public speech Thursday.
“They said, ‘Oh, you’re taking money from a bunch of different companies, and we’d like to talk about those companies, and doesn’t it feel like you’re being co-opted by these companies?’ And I was thinking, you know, that’s a reasonable question,” Lyons said.
Lyons didn’t answer the question directly, but added that he’d like to see similar scrutiny applied to members of Congress.
Cohrs Zhang writes for Bloomberg. Robert Langreth, Ike Swetlitz, Madison Muller, Daniela Sirtori, Jaewon Kang, John Tozzi, Samantha Murphy Kelly and Kristina Peterson of Bloomberg contributed to this report.
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