Health care reform doesn't look promising in the near term: HHS Secretary Price
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is the latest member of Congress to join a growing list of Democrats co-sponsoring Sen. Bernie Sanders’ ‘Medicare for all’ bill. Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Tom Price weighed in on whether the bill has a chance of passing, telling the FOX Business Network’s Dagen McDowell on Mornings with Maria, “Well, I would hope not. And I think that the vast majority of the American people would hope not. And it’s not because we don’t think folks ought to have health care. We do. It’s important though that that health care be patient-centered and not government-centered.”
According to Price, even though everyone should have access to health coverage, Medicare is not the answer.
“All of us want folks to, everybody, to have health care and health coverage but in Medicare, there are one out of eight physicians in this nation who ought to be seeing Medicare patients who don’t because of the rules and the regulations through Medicare.”
The focus in Washington, D.C. has shifted to tax reform, but Price says health care reform is still a priority, telling McDowell, “Repeal and replace is an absolute necessity.”
Price wasn’t optimistic about achieving health care reform in the short term though.
“It takes an act of Congress to move us in the right direction on health care and sadly, we haven’t seen that act of Congress yet. So, [that’s] what we continue to challenge folks to do in the House and the Senate. The House passed a bill, the Senate needs to pay attention and make sure they’re able to pass a bill as well. It doesn’t look promising in the near term.”