WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced on the Senate floor that he will oppose President Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Representative Tom Price (R-GA). Senator Durbin stressed that on issue after issue—from Congressman Price’s support for privatizing Medicare, to his attempts to slash funding for the Medicaid program, to his long-standing goal of repealing of the Affordable Care Act, to his misguided efforts to restrict women’s access to health care—Price’s legislative record runs counter to the mission of the very department he has been nominated to lead.
“Congressman Price has spent his political career opposing many of the basic federal health programs that he’s now asking permission to oversee. He has repeatedly voted against the Children’s Health Insurance Program. That’s a program that provides health insurance to eight million kids in America. We decided even before passing the Affordable Care Act that we were going to extend health insurance coverage to children—making a real commitment at the federal level, on a bipartisan basis, to do it. Eight million kids are covered nationwide—300,000 in Illinois. Now, Congressman Price has spent the last six years in a desperate attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare. If he were successful in that effort, it would eliminate health insurance for 30 million Americans and lead to dramatic premium increases for those with health insurance. And for six years, the Republicans have never had a replacement. That’s why they are changing their rhetoric,” said Durbin. “If Congressman Price has his way, it would mean less funding, fewer services, fewer people covered.”
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