Lupus. Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Crohn’s disease. Diabetes. Infection-associated chronic illnesses (IACCIs). Long COVID. Lyme disease.
These “invisible illnesses” (difficult to diagnose by sight alone) afflict millions of Americans annually, with women accounting for nearly 80% of autoimmune diagnoses. And for too many women, while their diseases went unseen by doctors and medical professionals, their cries for help went unheard, too. The Trump administration is working to change that.
“Invisible” illnesses are invisible in name only. Characterized by ebb-and-flow symptoms like chronic fatigue, digestive issues, unexplained pain, and brain fog, the causes of these conditions are often overlooked or misdiagnosed.
Symptoms are questioned. Care is siloed. Validation comes late, if at all.
Progress on these diseases has been slowed by a health care system built around specialists. But invisible illnesses don’t stay in one lane; they affect the immune system, the brain, the gut, and the nervous system — often all at once. Patients bounce from doctor to doctor while no one connects the dots.
Under the leadership of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., that dynamic is changing. Through its new OneHHS strategy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is harnessing technological innovations to streamline the testing, diagnosis, and treatment of invisible illnesses.
Using AI-accelerated science, modern data infrastructure, and patient-centered innovation, HHS is aligning federal efforts on Lyme disease, long COVID, IACCIs, and related conditions through a unified platform offering clinician locators, living evidence guidelines, real-world data tools, and clear federal guidance. The goal is simple: replace fragmentation with transparency, accountability, and speed.
HHS is bringing together research, data, and clinical guidance across conditions such as Lyme disease, long COVID, and other IACCIs. These diseases are not identical; each has its own biology. But they share common barriers: limited diagnostics, scattered data, outdated guidance, and uncoordinated patient care.
Instead of treating each condition in isolation, HHS is modernizing the foundation that supports them all — starting with Lyme disease.
Through the LymeX Innovation Accelerator, HHS is partnering with patients, doctors, researchers, and technology leaders to improve diagnostics and care. Lyme disease has long exposed weaknesses in how the medical system handles complex chronic illnesses. By strengthening our approach to Lyme, we can apply what works to other invisible illnesses.
Other parts of HHS are reinforcing this effort.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expanding research and public information on IACCIs so these illnesses are better understood nationwide. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is strengthening Chronic Care Management pathways, making it easier for patients with complex conditions to receive coordinated care with Medicare reimbursement.
We are also investing in better evidence. Programs like CURE ID collect real-world treatment experiences from clinicians and patients, helping identify what works when formal research is still catching up. And we are moving away from static clinical guidance that can sit unchanged for years. Beginning with a “LymeX” pilot, guidance will transition to evidence models updated regularly as validated new data becomes available.
These changes may sound technical, but their impact is personal.
Living with invisible illness can be isolating. The physical symptoms are hard enough; the doubt and dismissal can be even harder. No one should have to battle their disease and the system meant to help them.
Women deserve better.
They deserve faster answers. They deserve coordinated care. They deserve science that works as hard as they do to reclaim their health.
At HHS, we are committed to building a system that sees what was once unseen and hears what was once unheard. Invisible illness is real. The suffering is real. And we are working every day to ensure the care is real, too.
Kristen Honey, Ph.D, is the HHS Chief Data Officer and LymeX Program Manager, and Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
