The MAHA Commission Issues MOCHA Strategy Report

• On September 9, 2025, the Make America Healthy Again Commission (MAHA Commission) issued a strategy report titled, Make our Children Health Again (MOCHA Strategy Report).
• On February 13, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14212 titled “Establishing the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission” (EO), directing the MAHA Commission to submit a Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment (MAHA Report). This original MAHA Report was released on May 22nd and assessed key drivers of childhood chronic disease, including poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity and chronic stress, and overmedicalization.
• The new MOCHA Strategy Report outlines an executive-branch approach to address childhood chronic disease by:
  • Advancing research and innovation
  • Realigning incentives and health systems to drive health outcomes
  • Increasing public awareness and knowledge of factors impacting children's health o Fostering public-private collaboration
• The MOCHA Strategy Report includes a variety of high-level recommendations intended to promote children’s health by reshaping the federal government’s research programs, realigning incentives through policy changes and deregulation, improving public outreach, and fostering public-private partnerships. Many of these recommendations remain very high-level. Among these recommendations are:
  • Establish a MAHA Chronic Disease Task Force. 
  • Develop a Real-World Data Platform to link datasets from claims databases, electronic health records, and wearables data for researchers studying chronic diseases. 
  • New approach methodologies (NAMs) to provide earlier insights into chronic disease mechanisms through human-relevant models.
  • Use the real-world data platform to study the root causes of autism.
  • Organize a mental health diagnosis and prescription working group to evaluate prescribing patterns for drugs commonly prescribed for children’s mental or behavioral health disorders. 
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) collaboration to strengthen the use of repurposed drugs for the treatment of chronic diseases.
  • Develop an AI-driven approach to pediatric cancer.
  • Conduct longitudinal studies of childhood chronic disease, directing more research funding to study mental health and addiction, and researching the integration of AI for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases. 
  • Increase oversight by the FDA, Health and Human Services (HHS), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Department of Justice (DOJ) of direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising. 
  • Increase transparency and efficiency in FDA and NIH and review agencies’ participation in projects funded by agency foundations for conflicts of interest.
  • Develop a new vaccine framework including a childhood vaccine schedule and addressing vaccine injuries, correcting conflicts of interest, and ensuring scientific and medical freedom. 
  • CMS and state collaboration on two initiatives meant to improve chronic care for children in Medicaid.
    • Quality metrics for Medicaid managed care organizations that promote nutrition coaching and fitness indicators.
    • “Enhance” prior authorization requirements and prescribing safeguards to address overuse of prescription medications by children for conditions like ADHD.
  • Reduce regulatory burdens in drug approvals and streamlining the process for patients to access investigational drugs through risk-based exemptions.
  • Make real-world data available and use it to understand the impact of FDA-regulated medical products.
  • Public outreach campaign that focuses on the dangers of synthetic opioids; updating the label for OxyContin; public-facing clinical transparency reviews to assist patient and parent decision-making; and increasing awareness of HRSA’s pediatric mental health programs.
  • Fostering public-private partnerships to accelerate innovation in health-focused technologies.

More on This Topic:

• AMCP’s Summary of the MOCHA Strategy Report
• MOCHA Strategy Report 
• MAHA Report 

For questions, please reach out to Vicky Jucelin.