Price Wins Confirmation As US Health Secretary; Verma On Deck For CMS Hearing
Executive Summary
Senators voted 52 to 47 to confirm Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., as Health and Human Services secretary, where he will be a key leader implementing reversals to the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, Trump’s pick to lead the Medicare agency, Seema Verma, faces a confirmation hearing in the Senate Feb. 16.
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HHS Nominee Vote Delayed By Senate Dem Boycott
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden led other panel Democrats in boycotting a planned Jan. 31 vote on the confirmation of Rep. Tom Price as HHS Secretary. Wyden said the nominee "misled the public" and held back information on discounted shares of an Australian biomedical firm he bought. Committee Chair Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was surprised by the setback to President Trump's nominee, and swore to bring Senate Democrats back to the committee to "do their job.”
Grassley Asks Price To Preserve 'Open Payments' Database
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, urged US Department of Health and Human Services secretary nominee Tom Price to preserve the "Open Payments" database that was established by Grassley's Physician Payment Sunshine Act, even if the Affordable Care Act, by which the Sunshine law was enacted, is repealed.
Price 'Not Aware' Of Stock Choices During HIP Act Consideration, He Tells Senators
HHS Secretary Nominee Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., told members of a key Senate health panel that he was "not aware" of purchases his broker made of stocks in health-care companies including Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc., shortly after introducing The HIP Act to delay a CMS orthopedics bundled payment program. The appointee also signaled his intentions 'not to pull the rug out' on millions of Americans' insurance coverage in any Affordable Care Act replacement plan he works on.