Health care debate may pivot on new HHS pick
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s selection of a secretary of Health and Human Services could be a turning point in a health care debate that has polarized Washington, as he faces a choice of working with Democrats to fix the current system or continuing his so-far failed efforts to dismantle his predecessor’s program.
The resignation of Tom Price as secretary Friday over his use of costly chartered jets capped a week of setbacks on health care for a president who made the issue a centerpiece of his campaign and his first eight months in office. Trump’s decision on a successor could be a chance to shift the debate, but he faces the prospect of an arduous confirmation battle.
The president has sent mixed signals since the latest effort to repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act collapsed in the Senate. He asserted that he had the votes to pass the repeal legislation in early 2018, while offering to negotiate with Democrats who are adamantly against it. One adviser said Saturday that Trump was serious about compromising with Democrats and would pick a secretary who would help make that happen.
Democrats urged him to pursue such a course.
“Let’s get a new HHS secretary who’s finally devoted to improving health care, move past these debates and come to bipartisan agreement on how to stabilize markets and make health care cheaper,” said Sen. Christopher Murphy of Connecticut.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the senior Democrat on the Finance Committee, said Price’s departure could begin “a new chapter for the Trump administration’s health care agenda.”
The White House had no comment Saturday, but two advisers who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters said two top candidates were Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Both have been vetted by the White House, nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate to their current jobs within recent months, a significant selling point.
Other names have been floated as well, including David Shulkin, secretary of Veterans Affairs and a favorite of the president. But he has been criticized for a European trip with his wife that mixed business and sightseeing and was partially financed by taxpayers, and Trump may be reluctant to move him because he has been critical to fixing veterans’ care.
Some reports have floated former Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, an assistant secretary of health and human services under President George W. Bush. But he was a caustic critic of Trump during his own brief campaign for the White House that ended in late 2015 after he called the future president a “narcissist” and “egomaniacal madman.”
Trump may not necessarily fill the post quickly. He has left the Department of Homeland Security in the hands of an acting secretary since John Kelly left in July to become White House chief of staff. The president appears to be in no rush to fill that post despite a series of hurricanes and a roiling immigration debate, issues managed by the department. He said Friday that he would make a decision on that nomination “probably within a month.”