- Transition « Building
the New Administration « Press Release from Trump for
America, Inc.
For Immediate Release
President-Elect Donald J. Trump Intends to Nominate Congressman Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services and Seema Verma as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
“Chairman Price, a renowned physician, has earned a reputation for being a tireless problem solver and the go-to expert on healthcare policy, making him the ideal choice to serve in this capacity,” said President-elect Trump. “He is exceptionally qualified to shepherd our commitment to repeal and replace Obamacare and bring affordable and accessible healthcare to every American. I am proud to nominate him as Secretary of Health and Human Services.”
"It is an honor to be nominated to serve our nation as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Thanks to President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Pence for their confidence," said Rep. Price. "I am humbled by the incredible challenges that lay ahead and enthusiastic for the opportunity to be a part of solving them on behalf of the American people. There is much work to be done to ensure we have a healthcare system that works for patients, families, and doctors; that leads the world in the cure and prevention of illness; and that is based on sensible rules to protect the well-being of the country while embracing its innovative spirit."
Rep. Price was first elected to represent Georgia’s 6th district in November 2004. Prior to going to Washington, Price served four terms in the Georgia State Senate – two as Minority Whip. In 2002, he was a leader in the Republican renaissance in Georgia as the party took control of the State Senate, with Price rising to become the first Republican Senate Majority Leader in the history of Georgia.
In Congress, Rep. Price is a proven leader, tireless problem solver and go-to Republican on quality healthcare policy. He serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means. In the 114th Congress, Rep. Price was named Chair of the House Committee on the Budget. In previous Congresses, he has served as Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee and Chairman of the Republican Study Committee. Committed to advancing positive solutions under principled leadership, Rep. Price has been a fierce opponent of government waste and devoted to limited government and lower spending.
For nearly 20 years, Rep. Price worked in private practice as an orthopedic surgeon. Before coming to Washington he returned to Emory University School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor and Medical Director of the Orthopedic Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, teaching resident doctors in training. He received his Bachelor and Doctor of Medicine degrees from the University of Michigan and completed his Orthopedic Surgery residency at Emory University.
In addition to Chairman Price’s nomination, President-elect Trump announced his choice of Seema Verma, one of the leading experts in the country on Medicare and Medicaid, to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“I am pleased to nominate Seema Verma to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” said President-elect Trump. “She has decades of experience advising on Medicare and Medicaid policy and helping states navigate our complicated systems. Together, Chairman Price and Seema Verma are the dream team that will transform our healthcare system for the benefit of all Americans.”
“I am honored to be nominated by President-elect Trump today,” said Ms. Verma. “I look forward to helping him tackle our nation's daunting healthcare problems in a responsible and sustainable way."
Seema Verma is the President, CEO and founder of SVC, Inc., a national health policy consulting company. For more than 20 years, Ms. Verma has worked extensively on a variety of policy and strategic projects involving Medicaid, insurance, and public health, working with Governors' offices, State Medicaid agencies, State Health Departments, State Departments of Insurance, as well as the federal government, private companies and foundations.
Ms. Verma has extensive experience redesigning Medicaid programs in several states. Ms. Verma is the architect of the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP), the nation's first consumer directed Medicaid program under Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana and then-Governor Pence’s HIP 2.0 waiver proposal.
Ms. Verma served as the State of Indiana’s health reform lead following the passage of Obamacare in 2010.
Ms. Verma is a graduate of the Richard G. Lugar Excellence in Public Service Series, and in 2016, Vice President-elect Pence awarded Ms. Verma the Sagamore of the Wabash. Additionally, Ms. Verma was recently selected to participate in the American Enterprise Institute Leadership Network.
Prior to consulting, Ms. Verma served as Vice President of Planning for the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County and as a Director with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) in Washington D.C. Ms. Verma received her Master’s degree in Public Health, with a concentration in health policy and management from Johns Hopkins University, and her Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences from the University of Maryland.
Family Research Council Congratulates U.S. Rep. Tom Price on His Selection as HHS Secretary
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council today commended President-elect Donald Trump's choice of U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
"I offer my congratulations to U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) on his selection as HHS Secretary. We have worked closely with him throughout his 11 years in Congress and have found him to be a committed conservative who has led the way in the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. He has been a strong advocate for legislation that would ensure Americans are not forced to subsidize elective abortion, and has worked to halt overbearing HHS mandates.
"I applaud President-Elect Trump for selecting a HHS secretary who is well-suited to implement an alternative to Obamacare and reverse the damage done by President Obama's worst policy failure. As a doctor who worked in private practice for two decades, Dr. Price will pursue a health care system that is market-focused and patient-driven," concluded Perkins.
-30-
Concerned Women for America
Price Appointed Secretary of HHS
Democratic National Committee
Trump’s HHS Pick Tom Price Would Voucherize Medicare, Take Health Care Away From 22 Million Americans
WASHINGTON - Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Rep. Tom Price, shows that his administration is determined to take healthcare away from millions of Americans and turn Medicare into a voucher system – a longtime Republican priority.
“Donald Trump lied to voters about draining the swamp, and lied about protecting Medicare. In picking Price for to be his HHS Secretary, Trump is empowering one of the most extreme Washington Republicans to try to take health care away from millions and voucherize Medicare.
This has been a priority for Congressional Republicans led by Price and Paul Ryan, despite the fact that Obamacare slashed the uninsured rate to the lowest point in history and dramatically slowed the growth of health costs in the United States. Democrats will fight to defend health care for our fellow Americans. We will not stand idly by while Republicans take health care away from millions of Americans and dismantle one of the most important retirement programs that millions of seniors rely on every single day.” – DNC Communications Director Adam Hodge
Congressman Price has:
· Repeatedly advocated repealing the ACA, taking health care away millions of Americans.
· Said “I don’t know” what happens to the American people if their current plans are cancelled.
· Has proposed turning Medicare into a voucher program, directly at odds with Donald Trump’s campaign promise to not change it.
· Falsely speculated that over 100 million would lose coverage because of the ACA (it didn’t – more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans gained health insurance because of the law).
· Claimed the ACA “a government takeover that will destroy 800,000 jobs” and lead the U.S. to fiscal ruin (it didn’t – 15 million new jobs and counting since the passage of the ACA).
· Defended shutting down the government over defunding the ACA.
· Proposed a bill that would gut federal health programs and end protections for the sick.
· Would turn Medicaid and food stamps into a block grant so that states would receive more government oversight.
· Called for privatizing healthcare benefits for veterans.
Sen. Bernie Sanders
WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement Tuesday after it was reported that President-elect Donald Trump will name Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to serve as secretary of health and human services:
“Donald Trump asked workers and seniors to vote for him because he was the only Republican candidate who would not cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – programs that are of life-and-death importance for millions of Americans. Now, he has nominated a person for secretary of Health and Human Services, Rep. Tom Price, who has a long history of wanting to do exactly the opposite of what Trump campaigned on. Rep. Price has a long history of wanting to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. What hypocrisy! Mr. Trump needs to tell the American people that what he said during the campaign were just lies, or else appoint an HHS secretary who will protect these programs and do what Trump said he would do.”
November 28, 2016
Contact: Steve Rouzer, Communications Manager
Filling the Swamp: President-Elect Trump Makes a Shockingly “Inside-the-Box” Selection for Secretary of Health and Human Services
Congressman Tom Price, a long-time opponent of the ACA and author of failed legislation to replace the health care law, will chief the Department of Health and Human Services
WASHINGTON, DC – November 28, 2016 – Following the early announcement of Congressman Tom Price's selection as Secretary of Health and Human Services small business owners are concerned that the fresh approach to improving health costs and access promised by the President-Elect has been replaced with the same old, same old approach. Tapping a Washington insider whose dedicated his tenure to the repeal of the heath care builds upon the uncertainty felt on Main Street and Wall Street concerning the future of our health care system.
“A repeal of the ACA would totally blow up our health care system, and no one is prepared for the impact, not state governments, providers, consumers, or the small businesses on Main Street,” said Jim Houser, the owner of Hawthorne Auto Clinic in Portland, OR and Main Street Alliance Executive Committee Member. “In 6 years, incoming Secretary Tom Price and the GOP haven’t floated an idea for a replacement that did not rapidly demonstrate that it would blow up the deficit, grow the debt, cut coverage for small business owners and our employees, and hurt providers.”
Under the Affordable Care Act, health care costs are down, coverage is at an all-time high, and small businesses are positioned to match the offerings of their larger competitors and can afford to obtain coverage for themselves and their families. With the right Cabinet and advisors, President Trump could work to improve the law–further controlling prices and increasing access. But by pegging a member of Congress laser-focused on efforts to repeal the law for a Cabinet position, Mr. Trump appears to be doubling down on his campaign promise to repeal the law despite its successes.
“Congressman Tom Price, a Washington insider, is hardly the Secretary of Health and Human Services the small business community can look to for improvements to our health care system. He’s introduced several pieces of failed legislation aimed at taking down the landmark health care law and doesn't appear capable of generating the ideas necessary to build on the ACA's successes,” said Paul Heroux, a retired contractor from Orlando, FL and a member of the Main Street Alliance National Action Committee. “The President-Elect phoned it in with this selection at a time when America needed a strong commitment to improving a health care system that tens of millions rely upon.”
“Congressman Price and his fellow members of the Freedom Caucus have obstructed meaningful progress in favor of taking repeated swipes at the Affordable Care Act throughout the current administration. The scorched earth approach they took put political agenda ahead of the health outcomes of 22 million of our customers, employees, and neighbors,” said Kelly Conklin, the owner of Foley-Waite Woodworking in Kenilworth, NJ, and Main Street Alliance Executive Committee Member. "If Mr. Trump and the incoming Secretary stay their course and repeal the ACA, they will collapse the health care industry, boot millions from their policies and put small businesses at the same disadvantages we faced in 2008."
-=-=- The Main Street Alliance · 3518 S Edmunds St, Seattle, WA 98118, United StatesCopyright © 2016 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in
Action.
All rights reserved.