Dem Senator Opposes Price As HHS Nom Over Support For Medicare Privatization

United States Senator Joe Donnelly (Democrat of Indiana) questions U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey, U.S. Army, as they deliver testimony before the ... United States Senator Joe Donnelly (Democrat of Indiana) questions U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey, U.S. Army, as they deliver testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services on the U.S. policy towards Iraq and Syria and the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) Hagel and Dempsey Testify on ISIL, Washington D.C, America - 16 Sep 2014 (Rex Features via AP Images) MORE LESS
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Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) on Tuesday said that he would oppose Donald Trump’s nomination of Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) to lead the Department of Health and Human Services over Price’s support for privatizing Medicare.

“Tom Price has led the charge to privatize Medicare, and for this reason, I cannot support his nomination,” Donnelly said in a statement. “I am ready to work with anyone who wants to improve access to quality health care for Hoosier families and seniors, but the nomination of Tom Price would put us on a direct path to end Medicare as we know it, which would raise health care costs and break a fundamental promise to seniors. I have fought to protect Medicare, and I will continue to oppose efforts to privatize Medicare or turn it into a voucher program.”

Price, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, has supported House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) proposal to privatize Medicare, and said earlier this month that the House would move on changes to Medicare in mid-2017. He has also been an outspoken critic of Obamacare and has offered several plans to replace the health care law.

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