As Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s stance on vaccines continues to court controversy, he announced an upcoming U.S. health initiative this week: a campaign encouraging Americans to use wearable health monitors.
Kennedy revealed that the HHS is planning “to launch one of the biggest advertising campaigns in HHS history to encourage Americans to use wearables,” during the Tuesday Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee meeting. These devices, including popular FitBit trackers and Apple Watches, can cost from around $80 to more than $1,000. Kennedy said the device services cost around $80 per month, which he compared to $1,300 monthly costs for GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic.
“My vision is that every American is wearing a wearable within four years,” Kennedy told U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), who brought up the topic of wearables during the meeting regarding the HHS’s 2026 budget.
While other health monitoring devices were on the market already, FitBit made them a consumer trend when it launched in 2009. According to The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, developers James Park and Eric Freidman were inspired by other consumer-friendly tech devices such as the Nintendo Wii’s motion-sensitive controllers and Tamagotchi digital pets popular in the 1990s.
As of last August, the activity tracker that had racked up sales of more than 136 million units. In 2015, Apple launched its popular Apple Watch, a smartwatch that also includes fitness tracking features.
A 2023 study published in the JAMA Network Open journal found that almost one in three Americans were already using wearable devices to track their health and fitness. It also found that more than 80%, of those users would share information from their device with their doctor to support their health monitoring.
“However, less than one in four adults with or at risk for cardiovascular disease uses a wearable device,” said the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in 2023.
Kennedy told Balderson that he has seen his own friends’ lives change when they began using glucose monitors. He added the tech innovations are “miraculous.”
Still, Balderson noted that some people are concerned about privacy regarding health data stored on the devices. To that, and questions about supporting remote health programs for homebound people, people in rural areas and to cut down emergency room visits in general, Kennedy said that he has brought tech experts to the HHS to help address those issues and goals.
There have been reports of wearables being hacked in the past. Back in 2016, CNBC reported that hackers were able to gain access to FitBit users’ GPS history. Earlier this year, Forbes published tips for checking if Apple Watches have spyware on them. Studies have also shown that the devices can have real health benefits.
“The use of Fitbit devices in interventions has the potential to promote healthy lifestyles in terms of physical activity and weight,” said a 2020 study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. “Fitbit devices may be useful to health professionals for patient monitoring and support.”
For Kennedy, the devices are a major part of his Make America Healthy Again initiative.
“Wearables put the power of health back in the hands of the American people. We’re launching one of the largest HHS campaigns in history to encourage their use – so every American can take control of their health, one data point at a time. It’s a key part of our mission to Make America Healthy Again,” he said in a Tuesday X post.