Device Industry Reacts To Trump's Nominations For HHS and CMS
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-GA.) as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and tabbed Seema Verma, a healthcare consultant, to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). While the picks have garnered significant support from industry advocacy groups, opponents of the nominees argue that future policy changes could be “damaging and chaotic,” as well as reduce funding for federal medical research initiatives.
Price began his career as an orthopedic surgeon, and has been a long-time opponent of both the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and recent policy shifts toward value-based healthcare, including the recently launched CMS Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement model, reports the New York Times. Senior leadership for medtech companies like Medtronic and Zimmer Biomet has cited value-based medicine as a growth strategy.
House Speaker Paul Ryan referred to Price as “the perfect choice,” citing Price’s experience as a surgeon and professor of medicine. Price “knows first-hand how decisions in Washington affect patients,” Ryan stated.
Verma, president and founder of national health policy consulting firm SVC, has worked with Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Medicaid reform. Last year, her efforts helped Indiana receive a federal waiver to change certain Medicaid requirements that charged a small fee to Medicaid recipients and revoked coverage for patients who missed payments for a punitive six-month period.
Susan Jo Thomas told NPR that Verma is particularly deft at repackaging Medicaid expansions to suit conservative legislators, but David Machledt, policy analyst with the National Health Law Program, commented that Medicaid reform in Indiana was confusing for recipients and reduced participation. Joan Alker, at the Georgetown Center for Families, stated that a CMS restructuring could be “very damaging and chaotic.”
Several industry and provider advocacy groups released statements in support of Price’s nomination. Patrice Harris, chair of the American Medical Association’s board of trustees, said Price has been “a leader in development of health policies to advance patient choice and market-based solutions as well as reduce excessive regulatory burdens that increase costs.”
Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), noted in a statement that Price understands the “important role technology plays in improving patient outcomes,” and has long been a proponent of improving patient access to healthcare.
In a statement from the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, President and CEO Mark Leahey stated that his organization looks forward to working with Price to “bridge the gap between the regulatory pathways and securing fair reimbursement.”
Conversely, U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) released statements voicing their concern over possible privatization of Medicare and lost coverage for millions of Americans. Schumer commented that nominating Price was “akin to asking the fox to guard the henhouse.”
Some critics warn that recent federal research initiatives like the Cancer Moonshot, the Precision Medicine Initiative, and the BRAIN Initiative could see their funding cut or lost.
“What one administration presented as an opportunity for us to come together and aspire towards, the next may immediately defund and write off as another example of bloated government waste…Both of these appointments mean drastic change to “business as usual,” said George McLaughlin, head of Solution Matching at Redox, in a blog.