Confirmation Updates
The Senate Finance Committee held it’s hearing on Seema Verma’s nomination to become Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Verma has deep ties to Indiana, Vice President Pence’s home state, where she worked with his predecessor (Gov. Mitch Daniels) to transform the state’s Medicaid program into the current Healthy Indiana Plan that emphasizes health savings accounts. The more contentious moments of her hearing focused around conflict of interest issues. Verma, who until recently ran a consulting firm (SVC), worked to reform Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion program to include a work requirement for beneficiaries. Disclosures also showed that Verma was consulting on healthcare reforms with nine other states, while also having health industry clients that would in turn be impacted by state reforms. Verma is expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Following Andrew Puzder’s withdrawal from consideration to run the Department of Labor, President Trump nominated Alexander Acosta to become Secretary of Labor. Acosta is currently a Florida law school dean, and was previously a National Labor Relations Board member and Assistant Attorney General for civil rights under the President George W. Bush. Though Puzder’s nomination was plagued with scandals over allegations of domestic violence and a failure to pay taxes after employing an undocumented nanny, Acosta’s nomination is expected to win swift confirmation.
The Senate Judiciary Committee set March 20th as the hearing date for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said that hearings will last three to four days, which is in-line with past Supreme Court confirmations.
Legislative Update
On Thursday, Chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee Greg Walden (R-OR) introduced the Pre-Existing Conditions Protection Act of 2017. The bill aims to preserve the popular provision memorialized in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which protects Americans with pre-existing conditions from discrimination when seeking health insurance coverage. The Chairman’s bill seeks to temper growing fears over ACA repeal efforts Congressional Republicans are hoping to repeal the ACA sometime later this year.
Congressional Recess
Next week, Congress will be in recess for a week-long district work period. If you plan on attending a town hall or want to engage with your member, check out our ANA Advocacy Toolkit. You can also learn more about the Republican’s ACA repeal plan with this factsheet.