The former orthopedic surgeon has staked out controversial positions on Medicare, Medicaid and tax breaks for employer-sponsored health plans. In his most recent health-care bill, Price proposed eliminating the Medicaid expansion under the ACA that has provided new coverage to roughly 10 million Americans and abolishing provisions under the law that provided more comprehensive prescription drug coverage to Medicare recipients.
A transition official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because Price has yet to be confirmed, said that if Price wins Senate approval to head the Department of Health and Human Services, he “will focus on running the agency, implementing legislation and advancing the president’s priorities.”
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Democrats have also raised concerns about Price’s investments in health-care firms. In December, the Wall Street Journal reported that Price had traded more than $300,000 in shares in about 40 health, biomedical and pharmaceutical companies over a four-year period starting in 2012, while he was involved with legislation that might affect those firms’ stocks. On Monday, CNN reported that he had bought shares in a medical-device manufacturing company, Zimmer Biomet, a matter of days before introducing legislation that would benefit the firm.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the trades suggested “a clear and troubling pattern” on Price’s part, and he asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate the Zimmer Biomet trade, which he called possibly “illegal.”
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