Trump HHS Pick Said Medicare Phaseout Would Pass Next Summer

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., questions ousted IRS Chief Steve Miller and J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, as they testify during a hearing at the House Ways and Means Committee on the I... Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., questions ousted IRS Chief Steve Miller and J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, as they testify during a hearing at the House Ways and Means Committee on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) practice of targeting applicants for tax-exempt status based on political leanings on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2013. MORE LESS
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According to multiple reports Monday evening, President-Elect Donald Trump has settled on Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) as his nominee to become Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Price, an orthopedic surgeon and Budget Committee Chair in the outgoing Congress, is an arch-critic of ‘Obamacare’ and a top supporter of Speaker Paul Ryan’s plan to phase out Medicare and replace it with private insurance and vouchers.

On November 17th, when TPM asked Price about his timeline for moving Medicare phaseout legislation in the next Congress, Price said he did not believe it would be in the first legislation Trump and the Republican Congress would tackle in the Spring. He said he expected it would come mid-year in the second phase of the budget reconciliation process. “I think that is probably in the second phase of reconciliation, which would have to be in the FY 18 budget resolution in the first 6-8 months,” Price told TPM.

Democrats have promised to oppose any effort to phase out or privatize Medicare in the next Congress.

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