Senate Approves Trump’s HHS Pick Despite Critics’ Qualms About Azar’s Ties To Pharma Industry
Alex Azar will take the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services after the Senate confirmed his nomination 53-43. Azar, who is replacing former Secretary Tom Price who resigned over ethical questions about his travel, is expected to make lowering drug prices one of his top priorities.
The New York Times:
Senate Confirms Trump Nominee Alex Azar As Health Secretary
The Senate confirmed Alex M. Azar II on Wednesday to be secretary of health and human services, clearing the way for President Trump’s second health secretary to begin controlling more than a trillion dollars a year in spending on medical insurance coverage for about one-third of all Americans. The vote was 55 to 43. (Pear, 1/24)
The Associated Press:
Senate Confirms Alex Azar As Trump's New Health Secretary
A 50-year-old Ivy League-educated lawyer, Azar says he has four main priorities for the Health and Human Services Department: help curb the cost of prescription drugs; make health insurance more affordable and available; continue bipartisan efforts to focus Medicare payments on quality; and confront the opioid addiction epidemic. (1/24)
The Washington Post:
Alex Azar Confirmed By Senate As New Head Of Health And Human Services
Azar, 50, will take over as policies in the sprawling department, with its budget of more than $1.1 trillion, are tilting to the right. A new civil rights division has just been created to protect health-care workers who refuse to provide contraception and other services inconsistent with their moral or religious beliefs. For the first time, new rules allow states to impose work requirements as part of their Medicaid programs. Other priorities Azar will oversee include trying to control rampant opioid addiction that is ravaging many U.S. communities. He will be under pressure to find ways to constrain drug prices — a realm in which suspicions of him run high given his years as a top executive of Eli Lilly. In addition, he will be at the vortex of the ongoing political feud over the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law that has spread insurance to millions of Americans and is a main target of the administration and congressional Republicans. (Goldstein, 1/24)
The Wall Street Journal:
Alex Azar Confirmed As Health And Human Services Secretary
Republicans praised Mr. Azar as a detail-oriented lawyer familiar with the workings of government and the health industry. Mr. Trump nominated Mr. Azar in November, saying in a tweet that “he will be a star for better health care and lower drug prices!” Democrats, noting that Mr. Azar recently headed an affiliate of Eli Lilly & Co., warned he would do little to bring down drug prices and would undermine the ACA. (Armour, 1/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Big Pharma Greets Hundreds Of Ex-Federal Workers At The ‘Revolving Door’
Alex Azar’s job hop from drugmaker Eli Lilly to the Trump administration reflects ever-deepening ties between the pharmaceutical industry and the federal government. A Kaiser Health News analysis shows that hundreds of people have glided through the “revolving door” that connects the drug industry to Capitol Hill and to the Department of Health and Human Services. (Lupkin, 1/25)