President Trump has selected Alex Azar, a former pharmaceutical executive and a top health official during the George W. Bush administration, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Republicans predicted that, if confirmed, Azar would pursue Trump’s goals to tilt health-care policies in a more conservative direction through executive action. Leading Democratic health policy experts, while not sharing Azar’s views, said he is well qualified for the post.
Azar has been highly critical of the Affordable Care Act, saying in interviews in recent months that the law was “certainly circling the drain” and that many of its problems “were entirely predictable as a matter of economic and individual behavior.” He also supports converting Medicaid from an entitlement program covering everyone who is eligible into block grants, a polarizing and long-standing GOP goal. He opposed expansion of the program under Obamacare to people with slightly higher incomes, something most states chose to pursue.
Azar boasts sterling conservative credentials, having clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia before working under special counsel Kenneth Starr to investigate Bill Clinton’s failed Whitewater real estate investments. As HHS general counsel, Azar worked on the administration’s response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the ensuing anthrax attacks, stem-cell policy and the advent of the Medicare prescription drug benefits. During his tenure as deputy secretary, he pushed for greater disclosure of prices associated with medical services to help foster competition and contain costs. He also backed converting medical records to electronic form.
Critics said Monday that Azar’s leadership at a company that repeatedly raised prices on existing drugs makes him ill-suited to lower drug prices. Supporters countered that his understanding of the complex dynamics behind pharmaceutical pricing will give him an advantage in striving to make drugs more affordable. Read the full Washington Post article here.