TTP Report: Apple Seeks Boost from Kennedy’s HHS, Congress on Watch Sales
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2026
Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite a history of pushing unfounded claims around the dangers of wireless signals, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a new and prominent cheerleader for the use of health-monitoring wearables like the Apple Watch. A new Tech Transparency Project (TTP) report details how this turnaround coincides with extensive lobbying efforts by Apple and trade groups to sell Kennedy and other top health officials on new government programs and rules benefitting the products.
“Apple is particularly adept at winning favor from lawmakers and administration officials in recent years on issues from tariffs to child safety. Secretary Kennedy’s embrace of using government resources to promote digital wearables may be the company’s latest lobbying coup,” said Michelle Kuppersmith, executive director of Campaign for Accountability, the nonprofit watchdog group that runs TTP.
Apple spent a record $10 million to lobby Washington policymakers in 2025. Disclosures show that show Apple started lobbying HHS on the health features of its products in the second quarter of the year, just ahead of Kennedy’s June 2025 announcement that HHS would “launch one of the biggest advertising campaigns in HHS history to encourage Americans to use wearables.”
Two days after Kennedy’s announcement, a bipartisan pair of House members introduced a bill called the WEAR IT Act that would allow people to spend up to $375 per year from health savings accounts on certain wearable devices or software. Apple is the only company that disclosed lobbying Congress on the measure since it was introduced, and the Apple-aligned trade group ACT – The App Association and its Connected Health Initiative publicly campaigned for its passage.
Kennedy’s endorsement of wearables drew criticism from skeptical “MAHA” allies, who felt the push was a betrayal of his views before becoming secretary. In an apparent response, he issued a statement insisting the campaign “is not about wearables,” that they are only “one option” which may not be for everyone.
Soon after, the Apple-affiliated Connected Health Initiative pressed Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, on wearables in a series of letters. In late 2025, CMS expanded access to “technology-supported care,” and, in July 2026, will reimburse healthcare organizations that promote Medicare patients’ use of wearables, apps and telehealth software that improves their medical conditions. The Connected Health Initiative applauded the move.
Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.