Trump Names Rep. Tom Price as Next HHS Secretary, Is This Finally The End of ObamaCare?

As president-elect Trump’s start date in the oval office quickly approaches, he has started to announce who he is appointing as the leaders of his administration.

Trump, along with many others, have criticized Obamacare and has promised to introduce a healthcare system that is much more effective.

His first move to dismantle and replace Obamacare is choosing Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trump stated that Price is “exceptionally qualified to shepherd our commitment to repeal and replace Obamacare and bring affordable and accessible health care to every American” in a news release this Tuesday.

Price has been a fierce critic of Obamacare since the beginning.

“Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration blatantly ignored the voices of the American people and rammed through a hyperpartisan piece of legislation that will have a disastrous effect on our nation’s health care system,” said Price in 2010 after Obama signed the Affordable Healthcare Act.

Evidently, the system has been proven to be unsuccessful.

“Premiums have gone up, not down. Many Americans lost the health coverage they were told time and time again by the president that they could keep. Choices are fewer,” said Price.

But, Price isn’t one of the many to just criticize the Affordable Care Act, he has introduced bills with detailed replacement plans.

“If President-elect Donald J. Trump wanted a cabinet secretary who could help him dismantle and replace President Obama’s health care law, he could not have found anyone more prepared than Representative Tom Price, who has been studying how to accomplish that goal for more than six years,” writes The Times.

“Mr. Price, an orthopedic surgeon who represents many of the northern suburbs of Atlanta, speaks with the self-assurance of a doctor about to perform another joint-replacement procedure. He knows the task and will proceed with brisk efficiency.”

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) approves of Trump’s selection. Ryan tweeted Tuesday that Price “has made health care his life’s work. He is the absolute perfect choice for HHS Secretary.”

But of course, democrats were quick to criticize Trump’s appointment of Price.

“Congressman Price has proven to be far out of the mainstream of what Americans want when it comes to Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and Planned Parenthood,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a statement. “Thanks to those three programs, millions of American seniors, families, people with disabilities and women have access to quality, affordable health care. Nominating Congressman Price to be the HHS secretary is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house.”

So what does the future of healthcare look like under Price?

“The legislation Mr. Price has proposed, the Empowering Patients First Act, would repeal the Affordable Care Act and offer age-adjusted tax credits for the purchase of individual and family health insurance policies,” writes The Times. “The bill would create incentives for people to contribute to health savings accounts; offer grants to states to subsidize insurance for “high-risk populations”; allow insurers licensed in one state to sell policies to residents of others; and authorize business and professional groups to provide coverage to members through “association health plans.”

So goodbye Obamacare. We won’t miss you.

“Under his vision, both programs would cease to be entitlements that require them to provide coverage to every person who qualifies. Instead, like many House Republicans, he wants to convert Medicaid into block grants to states — which would give them more latitude from federal requirements about eligibility rules and the medical services that must be covered for low-income Americans. This plan would also require “able-bodied” applicants to meet work requirements to receive health-care benefits — an idea that the Obama administration has consistently rebuffed,” writes The Washington Post.

Price said he was “humbled by the incredible challenges that lay ahead” and that “there is much work to be done to ensure we have a healthcare system that works for patients, families, and doctors; that leads the world in the cure and prevention of illness; and that is based on sensible rules to protect the well-being of the country while embracing its innovative spirit” in the news release.

Trump also announced that he plans to nominate Seema Verma, the president and CEO of a health consulting company, as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).