Tag: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price

Alex Azar’s controversial qualifications

Susan Jaffe | Washington Correspondent for The Lancet | 27th December 2017

When President Donald Trump nominated Alex Azar last month to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), supporters said his experience working in government and the pharmaceutical industry more than qualified him for the job. … the-lancet-usa-blog-logo1But critics say Azar has the wrong kind of experience. When he appeared before Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) last month, the committee’s senior Democrat Patty Murray of Washington said if Azar runs HHS then “the fox is guarding the hen house.” [Continued here]

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US health-care groups voice concerns about replacing ACA

lancet cover 2Volume 389, Number  10071 

25  February 2017 

WORLD REPORT    Few details have emerged regarding a replacement for the US health law.  Susan Jaffe, The Lancet’s Washington correspondent, speaks to stakeholders about the problems they foresee. 

Less than 8 hours after Donald Trump took the oath of office as the 45th President of the USA, he signed an executive order reiterating a popular campaign promise: “It is the policy of my Administration to seek the prompt repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [ACA].”

Californians march against the repeal and replacement of the ACA, Feb 4, 2017 / Getty Images

Yet 5 weeks later, the Trump Administration and the Republican controlled Congress cannot agree on whether to repeal and replace it simultaneously—as the president desires—and what the replacement will be. Tom Price, Trump’s new Health and Human Services Secretary, assured senators during his nomination hearing last month that “nobody’s interested in pulling the rug out from under anybody. We believe that it’s absolutely imperative that individuals that have health coverage be able to keep health coverage…”

…The ACA’s uncertain future has rattled health insurers—initial 2018 policies are due as soon as April—and rippled through the health-care system to worried providers and patients. “Like everyone else, we are waiting for more information to be released by the Administration and Congress”, said Jan Emerson-Shea, a spokeswoman for the California Hospital Association, a state with more than 1·5 million patients enrolled in ACA insurance plans.  [Continued here] …