Senate panel backs president’s nominee for health secretary

WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday backed President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, clearing the way for Alex Azar to be confirmed by the full Senate.

A former drug executive, Azar is expected to succeed Tom Price, Trump’s first health secretary, who was forced to resign last year amid reports that he routinely used charter jets at taxpayer expense.

Azar’s confirmation was shadowed by reports he traded extensively in health care stocks while he was a congressman.

Many Republican lawmakers have praised Azar’s experience at drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co. and his work as a senior official at the health agency under President George W. Bush, when he helped implement the Medicare Part D drug program and the Medicare Advantage program.

“His record shows that he is more than capable of leading HHS,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said at Azar’s confirmation hearing.

Azar has pledged to prioritize key issues, including the opioid epidemic, the burden of health care costs and the rising price of pharmaceuticals.

“Drug prices are too high,” Azar told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in November, pledging to look at ways to increase competition and stop drugmakers from gaming the system.

But Azar’s work at Lilly, which dramatically raised prices on its insulin product while he was at the company, has made consumer advocates skeptical he will take on the powerful pharmaceutical industry.