Representative Tom Price, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon from Atlanta and chairman of the U.S. House of Representative Budget Committee, has been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to be the new Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS).
Trump said Dr. Price is “exceptionally qualified” to help replace Obamacare. The surgeon said there was much work to be done, “to ensure we have a healthcare system that works for patients, families, and doctors.”
One of orthopedics’ own will now oversee Medicare, Medicaid, the FDA and almost all other federal healthcare programs. For the first time, to our knowledge, an orthopedic surgeon will have the chance to put into practice the issues near and dear to the hearts of orthopedic providers and patients.
We know Dr. Price well. He’s a reader of OTW and has frequently shared his views with our readers about assuring access and quality healthcare services for patients and giving surgeons the tools they need to be successful practitioners. He is a consistent and long-time champion of keeping the payer out of the middle of the patient/doctor relationship.
Dr. Price Philosophy
In a 2006 OTW interview, just a year after his election to Congress and his political star was rising in the Republican Party, Dr. Price outlined his philosophy of the patient/physician relationship. (To read the original interview, please visit https://ryortho.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/03-07-2006-WE-An-Orthopedic-Congressman-With-a-Spine-Whips-CMS-Reprint.pdf.)
He told us that healthcare decisions must be made in the best interest of the patient, not based on whether an insurance provider (i.e., Medicare) will cover a procedure or device. He also believes that every American should be required to own a health insurance policy.
His vision for the provision of healthcare in the country has two main prongs. First, it is to move from a system of defined benefits to a system of defined contributions. “That’s fancy language for saying that regardless of who is paying the cost for the health insurance policy, whether it’s the federal government through Medicare or the state government through Medicaid, or the employer or the individual, the patient owns the policy.”
Replacing Affordable Care Act
He’s carried that core philosophy with him as he introduced his Empowering Patients First Act to replace the Affordable Care Act in 2013. His bill is the basis for the healthcare proposal unveiled by House Speaker Paul Ryan last June.
Dr. Price wants to offer fixed tax credits for people to buy their own insurance on the private market. The credit is not adjusted for income, but starts at $1, 200 a year and rises with age. He advocates for expansion of health savings accounts, which allow people to save money before taxes to pay for healthcare. And, if people had continuous insurance for 18 months prior to selecting a new policy, they could not be denied coverage due to existing medical conditions.
For people with existing medical conditions that can get affordable health insurance, he would give states federal funds to create government-run high-risk pools.
He supports capping the amount of money companies can deduct from their taxes for employee health insurance expenses at $20, 000 for a family health insurance plan and $8, 000 for an individual.
Verma at CMS
In addition to choosing Dr. Price to head HHS, the Trump transition team also announced that healthcare consultant Seema Verma will lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Verma worked with Vice President-elect Mike Pence, then Indiana governor, on a plan to expand Medicaid coverage for the state’s poor with federal funding.
The pair that Trump called the “dream team” will both have to be approved by the U.S. Senate after Trump takes office in January.
Chuck Schumer the leader of Senate Democrats called Dr. Price, “far out of the mainstream” in his stance on Obamacare, Medicare and Planned Parenthood. “Nominating Congressman Price to be the HHS secretary is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house.”
Surgeon to Congressman
Dr. Price earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan and did his orthopedic surgery residency at Emory University. He established an orthopedic clinic north of Atlanta and served as an assistant professor at Emory University’s School of Medicine. Before becoming a Congressman, he served as Medical Director of the Orthopedic Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
In our first interview with Dr. Price, he told us that one of the things that drove him to get involved in the political process was the appreciation that he gained, having been in private practice for a period of time, that there were policymakers that had no fundamental knowledge about healthcare, or about taking care of patients, that were making decisions that were fundamental and vital to his ability to take care of his patients, and their decisions were affecting his ability in an adverse way.
Being put in charge of replacing Obamacare is going to be a tough political assignment. But orthopedic surgeons will have, for the first time, someone who has their backs and knows first-hand the challenges of the industry, providers and patients.
The right person who knows from the ground up about medicine and people. That’s what is needed a doer that can take the health of America serious. He knows people , medicine, and numbers. He has made it work in real life with patients satisfied and a budget that not only breaks even but shows a profit for growth through training and future studies of medicine that can be put to work. Just like many regulations put on all sectors he will get those out that stop or slow the future through regulations that are useless over reaching govt. duplication.Yes the right person for all Americans, it’s about time!