Here are five things to know:
1. Despite winning 52 total votes, not one Democrat voted in favor of Dr. Price. Many Democratic legislators have voiced concern over Dr. Price’s alleged trading practices and his opposition to the ACA.
2. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted the following after news broke of Dr. Price’s confirmation, “Tom Price wants to repeal the ACA w no replacement, throwing the entire healthcare system into chaos. What a terrible choice for HHS.”
3. In January 2017, Senate Democrats boycotted the confirmation hearings for Dr. Price and for Steven Mnuchin, former partner at Goldman Sachs and hedge fund manager, for the Treasury Department’s top spot.
4. During the finance committee hearing in January, Committee Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, (R-Utah), said, “I’m really disappointed they are boycotting this consideration of Steven Mnuchin to be secretary of treasury and Rep. Tom Price, one of the members of our Congress, for secretary of HHS. We ought to be proud of him. We ought to be willing to support a man of integrity, which he is. Assuming that they can’t support these two, then they can vote against them. That’s really what an honest approach to this matter would be.”
5. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan released a statement about Dr. Price’s confirmation, saying “For Americans struggling under Obamacare, today is a big step forward.”
More articles on healthcare;
Payers increasing scrutiny of coding compliance
Republican official open to maintaining payer cost-sharing subsidies, reinsurance payments — For now: 4 points
Federal judge blocks Anthem, Cigna deal: 6 things to know
