The Trump administration‘s “Make America Healthy Again” goals depend on negotiations with food and healthcare industry leaders rather than regulation, the heads of the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Wednesday.

In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Mehmet Oz, CMS administrator, and Dr. Marty Makary, FDA commissioner, touted their recent success in getting industry leaders to voluntarily comply with MAHA initiatives, such as removing artificial dyes from the food supply and reforming cumbersome health insurance procedures.

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The Trump appointees, serving under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., argued in their op-ed that their unorthodox approach is “to invite companies to the table, persuade them of the public interest and recognize the ones that cross the finish line.”

“The problem with prescriptive regulation is that it often puts more power in the hands of bureaucrats than society is willing to tolerate,” they wrote, adding that market-based solutions are more sustainable in the long term.

The op-ed references the announcement from Oz’s agency in late June that 11 major health insurance providers voluntarily agreed to cut red tape in getting patients approved for treatments, reforming their procedures for prior authorization that have been frustrating for patients for decades.

Makary and Oz also cited the nearly dozen large food corporations in the United States that have pledged to remove artificial food dyes and other additives from their products, including the Hershey Company, Smuckers, Kraft Heinz, General Mills, and others. 

The pair said their agencies could have gone through the traditional regulatory process to legally push private companies to comply with these and other policy goals, “but that route would have taken years, may not have been as far-reaching, and could have stalled out like many other aspirations.”

“As doctors, we have no patience for wasting time when it comes to the biggest healthcare issues facing Americans,” they wrote.

Although the pair dangled the carrot of public praise for companies that do voluntarily comply, they explicitly said they can use the “blunt instrument” of traditional regulatory pathways when necessary.

“We can better serve the public by using our convening power to drive meaningful change that is nimble, durable, and faster,” they wrote. “We not only reserve our right, but remain committed, to use our regulatory authority to ensure that change endures.”

RURAL HOSPITAL TRANSFORMATION OR SLUSH FUND? KEY PROGRAM DEPENDS ON DR. OZ

Although not discussed in the op-ed, state-level regulations to achieve MAHA goals, particularly regarding artificial dyes and food stamp benefits, have also pressured companies to implement reforms to their products that apply to the national market.

In April, when Kennedy announced his department’s push to remove petroleum-based chemical dyes, Makary acknowledged that companies would not want to deal with a patchwork of regulations and would prefer to come to the federal negotiating table.