NILC Responds to Selection of Rep. Price to Head HHS

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has announced that Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, a staunch opponent of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other federal programs that provide access to affordable health care to millions of Americans, has been selected to head the Dept. of Health and Human Services in the incoming administration. Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement:

“The selection of Rep. Tom Price to head HHS is yet another worrisome instance of President-elect Trump reaching into the fringes of American politics to select for high office individuals who will determine the direction our country will take in the coming years. For years Price has been at the forefront of a hyperpartisan fight to undo significant improvements in access to affordable health care that have resulted from the Affordable Care Act. Rather than build on progress made by this landmark law to ensure health care for all, Price’s proposed alternative would undermine protections for those with preexisting conditions, would favor older, wealthier Americans at the expense of those most in need, and would roll back reproductive rights for women.

“What’s more, Price’s record shows longstanding support for undoing nondiscrimination protections for the LGBTQ communities and for cutting programs that provide essential care to women and children. A vision so far out of the mainstream is not what the American people want or need.”

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