[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":2769,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"President Donald Trump named former Eli Lilly & Co. executive Alex Azar to lead the Department of Health and Human Services after agency\u2019s past chief resigned amid blowback over his taxpayer-funded private jet travel.

\u201cHappy to announce, I am nominating Alex Azar to be the next HHS Secretary. He will be a star for better healthcare and lower drug prices!\u201d Trump tweeted Monday.

If confirmed, Azar will take over the administration\u2019s management of the Affordable Care Act. Trump and Congressional Republicans have called to repeal the health law, and the administration has taken steps to destabilize it, such as cutting funding for some programs and refusing to pay subsidies to health insurers. He\u2019ll also be a key figure on drug costs.

Trump has been highly critical of the drug industry, saying that pharmaceutical companies are \u201cgetting away with murder\u201d and threatening to use the federal government\u2019s buying power to bring down prices.

However he\u2019s taken no concrete action yet to do much on prices, and the former drug executive\u2019s appointment may continue the trend of strong talk but little action, said Spencer Perlman, director of healthcare research at Veda Partners, a policy analysis firm.

\u201cIt is very unlikely the administration will take aggressive regulatory actions to control prescription drug prices,\u201d Perlman said in a note to clients Monday. \u201cThe administration\u2019s tepid response to drug pricing has not matched the president\u2019s heated rhetoric.\u201d

Dan Mendelson, president of Avalere Health, a consulting firm, also didn\u2019t think Azar represented a change in direction on pharmaceutical policy. \u201cHis appointment will not change the president\u2019s rhetoric,\u201d Mendelson said.

Before his time at Lilly, Azar served as deputy secretary at HHS under President George W. Bush. One former Obama administration official said that experience could help him at the agency.

\u201cWhile we certainly differ in a number of important policy areas, I have reason to hope he would make a good HHS secretary,\u201d said Andy Slavitt, who ran the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the last administration and who has been a frequent critic of efforts to derail Obamacare. Slavitt said he hoped Azar would \u201cavoid repeating this mistake of his predecessor over-politicizing Americans\u2019 access to healthcare.\u201d

Azar, who ran Indianapolis-based Lilly\u2019s U.S. operations until earlier this year, has been an advocate for more state flexibility under Obamacare. That matches up with what Republicans have pushed for, such as in a seemingly stalled bipartisan bill to fund insurer subsidies that help lower-income people with health costs.

As secretary, Azar would have broad authority over the program.

\u201cI\u2019m not one to say many good things about Obamacare, but one of the nice things in it is it does give a tremendous amount authority to the secretary,\u201d Azar said during an interview with Bloomberg TV in June. \u201cThere are still changes that can be made to make it work a little better than it has been.\u201d

There are signs that the law is gaining popular support despite the repeal efforts. In recent state elections in Virginia, Democrats won a competitive governors race that saw health care emerge as a top issue. In Maine, residents voted to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Early enrollment in Obamacare plans earlier this month was also up considerably compared to last year.

Trump\u2019s first HHS secretary, Tom Price, resigned in September after his extensive use of private and military jets at taxpayer expense was revealed. Azar must be approved by the Senate.

Senator Orrin Hatch, who heads the Senate Finance Committee that will review Azar\u2019s nomination, called on Trump\u2019s pick to help \u201cright the wrongs of this deeply flawed law.\u201d

\u201cFor too long, hardworking, middle-class families have been forced to bear the brunt of Obamacare\u2019s failures in the form of higher premiums and fewer choices,\u201d Hatch said in a statement.

Ron Wyden, the senior Democrat on the panel, said he would closely scrutinize Azar\u2019s record.

\u201cAt every turn, the president has broken his promises to American families to lower health care costs, expand access, and bring down the high price of prescription drugs,\u201d Wyden said in a statement.

Azar left Lilly in January, several months after another senior executive was named to succeed then-CEO John Lechleiter. A lawyer by training, Azar previously clerked for Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.
","saveContent":"President Donald Trump named former Eli Lilly & Co. executive Alex Azar to lead the Department of Health and Human Services after agency\u2019s past chief resigned amid blowback over his taxpayer-funded private jet travel.

\u201cHappy to announce, I am nominating Alex Azar to be the next HHS Secretary. He will be a star for better healthcare and lower drug prices!\u201d Trump tweeted Monday.

If confirmed, Azar will take over the administration\u2019s management of the Affordable Care Act. Trump and Congressional Republicans have called to repeal the health law, and the administration has taken steps to destabilize it, such as cutting funding for some programs and refusing to pay subsidies to health insurers. He\u2019ll also be a key figure on drug costs.

Trump has been highly critical of the drug industry, saying that pharmaceutical companies are \u201cgetting away with murder\u201d and threatening to use the federal government\u2019s buying power to bring down prices.

However he\u2019s taken no concrete action yet to do much on prices, and the former drug executive\u2019s appointment may continue the trend of strong talk but little action, said Spencer Perlman, director of healthcare research at Veda Partners, a policy analysis firm.

\u201cIt is very unlikely the administration will take aggressive regulatory actions to control prescription drug prices,\u201d Perlman said in a note to clients Monday. \u201cThe administration\u2019s tepid response to drug pricing has not matched the president\u2019s heated rhetoric.\u201d

Dan Mendelson, president of Avalere Health, a consulting firm, also didn\u2019t think Azar represented a change in direction on pharmaceutical policy. \u201cHis appointment will not change the president\u2019s rhetoric,\u201d Mendelson said.

Before his time at Lilly, Azar served as deputy secretary at HHS under President George W. Bush. One former Obama administration official said that experience could help him at the agency.

\u201cWhile we certainly differ in a number of important policy areas, I have reason to hope he would make a good HHS secretary,\u201d said Andy Slavitt, who ran the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the last administration and who has been a frequent critic of efforts to derail Obamacare. Slavitt said he hoped Azar would \u201cavoid repeating this mistake of his predecessor over-politicizing Americans\u2019 access to healthcare.\u201d

Azar, who ran Indianapolis-based Lilly\u2019s U.S. operations until earlier this year, has been an advocate for more state flexibility under Obamacare. That matches up with what Republicans have pushed for, such as in a seemingly stalled bipartisan bill to fund insurer subsidies that help lower-income people with health costs.

As secretary, Azar would have broad authority over the program.

\u201cI\u2019m not one to say many good things about Obamacare, but one of the nice things in it is it does give a tremendous amount authority to the secretary,\u201d Azar said during an interview with Bloomberg TV in June. \u201cThere are still changes that can be made to make it work a little better than it has been.\u201d

There are signs that the law is gaining popular support despite the repeal efforts. In recent state elections in Virginia, Democrats won a competitive governors race that saw health care emerge as a top issue. In Maine, residents voted to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Early enrollment in Obamacare plans earlier this month was also up considerably compared to last year.

Trump\u2019s first HHS secretary, Tom Price, resigned in September after his extensive use of private and military jets at taxpayer expense was revealed. Azar must be approved by the Senate.

Senator Orrin Hatch, who heads the Senate Finance Committee that will review Azar\u2019s nomination, called on Trump\u2019s pick to help \u201cright the wrongs of this deeply flawed law.\u201d

\u201cFor too long, hardworking, middle-class families have been forced to bear the brunt of Obamacare\u2019s failures in the form of higher premiums and fewer choices,\u201d Hatch said in a statement.

Ron Wyden, the senior Democrat on the panel, said he would closely scrutinize Azar\u2019s record.

\u201cAt every turn, the president has broken his promises to American families to lower health care costs, expand access, and bring down the high price of prescription drugs,\u201d Wyden said in a statement.

Azar left Lilly in January, several months after another senior executive was named to succeed then-CEO John Lechleiter. A lawyer by training, Azar previously clerked for Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.
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Trump picks former Lilly drug executive as HHS secretary

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