President Trump picks a former drug company executive to be the next health secretary.
Former pharmaceutical executive was once an HHS deputy secretary
WASHINGTON — Turning to an industry he’s rebuked, President Donald Trump on Monday picked a former top pharmaceutical and government executive to be his health secretary.
If confirmed, Alex Azar would oversee a $1 trillion department responsible for major health insurance programs, including the Affordable Care Act, as well as medical research, food and drug safety, and public health.
The nomination of Azar is unusual because Health and Human Services secretaries have come from the ranks of elected officials such as governors, leaders in academia and medicine, or top executive branch managers — not industries regulated by the department.
“He will be a star for better health care and lower drug prices!” Trump tweeted in a morning announcement. Trump has a track record of making industry-friendly nominations, such as former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state and investor Wilbur Ross as secretary of commerce.
But Trump also has been a scathing critic of the drug companies, both as a candidate and as president.
Azar, 50, a lawyer by training, has spent most of the last 10 years with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, rising to president of its key U.S. affiliate before leaving in January to start his own consulting firm.
As secretary, Azar would be returning to HHS after serving in senior posts in the George W. Bush administration. He would have to scrupulously avoid conflicts with Lilly’s far-reaching interests, from drug approval to Medicare reimbursement. The drugmaker has drawn criticism from patient advocacy groups for price increases to one of its biggest products: insulin, used to treat high blood sugar for nearly 100 years.
Azar’s earlier HHS nominations in the Bush era sailed through the Senate. This time, he’ll face Democrats wary of the administration’s unyielding quest to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Top Democrats in Congress were skeptical, but also said they hoped Azar would bring a shift from an ideological hard line on Obamacare.
“It’s time to turn over a new leaf at HHS,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader.
Committee Chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., cast Azar as a problem solver, saying “he has the qualifications and experience to get results.”
Insurers and for-profit hospitals also reacted positively, while the Public Citizen advocacy group likened Azar’s nomination to a “coup d’etat” by drug companies.
But Azar has a of skills that may be valuable to the president. In his previous service at HHS, the Yale law graduate developed an insider’s familiarity with the complex world of federal health care regulation, serving first as the department’s chief lawyer and later as deputy secretary.
Azar would be Trump’s second HHS secretary, replacing former Georgia congressman Tom Price, ousted after his use of private charter planes for government travel displeased the president.