Last Updated Jan 18, 2017 11:34 AM EST
Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Georgia Rep. Tom Price, is facing questions from the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Wednesday morning.
Price’s confirmation hearing comes just as Republicans are attempting a repeal of the Affordable Care Act , President Obama’s landmark healthcare legislation. Recently, GOP lawmakers have split on how to go about with a “repeal and replace” of Obamacare, however. Debate has shown some legislators are wary of destabilizing insurance markets and sending premiums skyrocketing if they repealed the law without a replacement.
Just as Donald Trump faces his own potential conflicts of interest , Price, a former orthopedic surgeon, will also undergo scrutiny over his own stock trades and investments involving health care companies.
In a letter to Price ahead of his hearing, Democratic Sen. Elizabeh Warren of Massachusetts wrote, “You made these trades while actively sponsoring, cosponsoring or voting on dozens of bills that could affect these companies.”
He’ll confront these concerns just as some senators are calling for an investigation into those investments.
Follow along with our live updates below.
Sanders pointed out that Mr. Trump claimed repeatedly he wouldn’t cut Medicare during his presidential campaign, but the HHS nominee has been in favor of making deep cuts to the policy.
“I haven’t had extensive” conversations with Mr. Trump about social security cuts, Price told Sanders. But the Georgia Republican said “I have no reason to believe that position has been changed.”
“I believe it’s inappropriate,” Murray said.
According to Murray, Price told her in a meeting that Republican Rep. Chris Collins of New York gave him a stock tip on an Australian biotech firm. But Price says Collins had simply told him about the firm.
He expressed robust support for the “promise” of Medicare to seniors.
Later, under questioning from Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, Price suggests that the Affordable Care Act will be replaced piecemeal.
Of the ACA, Price said, “no one is interested in pulling the rug out from anybody” about potential losses of health insurance under Obamacare repeal.
Price adds that the Republicans’ repeal and replace plan will not have people “lose coverage.” He also acknowledged that the ACA has had some benefits, saying that “the coverage has certainly improved.”
He laid out plans for Congress to focus heavily at the start on reshaping the marketplace for individual policies and on changing Medicaid, which covers low-income qualifiers.
Price said the initial legislation should not change Medicare, which covers older people.
Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the HELP committee, said in a statement at the beginning of the hearing that Price will face tough questions on Obamacare and his own investments and stock trades involving health care companies. Murray also voiced her concerns on how Price’s policy stances could impact women’s access to health care, including access to Planned Parenthood.
Of Price’s House vote last week easing the passage of legislation in the future that could completely nix Obamacare, Murray said people in her home state “have tears in their eyes” at the possibility of losing their heath care coverage.
