Oppose Nomination of Rep. Tom Price as HHS Secretary

Posted on by vlrock

— by Nicole Regalado, Credo Campaign Manager

We don’t know all the details of Donald Trump’s plans for America yet but one thing’s clear: If you’re not male, wealthy or heterosexual, Trump’s extreme right-wing administration won’t have your back when it comes to accessing health care.

Soon, the Senate will begin committee hearings to confirm Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Georgia Rep. Tom Price. Anti-woman, anti-gay Price wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, cut Medicaid, end Medicare and defund Planned Parenthood.

Putting Price in charge of important programs that keep millions of women, LGBTQ people, low-income families and the elderly healthy is irresponsible and dangerous.

A vote is expected soon, so we must act now to urge Senate Democrats to do everything in their power to stop Price’s confirmation as HHS secretary before it’s too late.

There is no reason to give a hate-group candidate who did not win the majority vote a free pass to appoint anti-woman, anti-gay extremists to leading positions in government. Price is just one of Trump’s many cabinet nominees that Democrats will need to resist and block in order to protect their constituents from Trump’s regime of hate.

If the Senate confirms Price as HHS secretary, it will put the health care of more than 100 million people at risk:

Price will help right-wing extremists like Paul Ryan end Medicare. Medicare is a fundamental tool of economic security – a guarantee that seniors will not be denied health care just because they can’t afford it. Price is a leading proponent of destroying Medicare by privatizing the program.

Price will take health insurance away from millions of people covered under the ACA. He wants to roll back the Medicaid expansion and replace the Affordable Care Act with a plan that primarily benefits people who have high incomes, leaves people with pre-existing conditions behind and makes it more difficult for people to purchase health plans that include abortion coverage.

Price will continue to push for drastic Medicaid cuts that could strip tens of millions of low-income families and children of their health insurance. If Republicans in Congress succeed at repealing the ACA and pass Price’s proposed Medicaid cuts, funding for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program would decrease by more than 40 percent over the next 10 years.

He will take away women’s health care. Price is an anti-woman extremist who supported legislation to defund Planned Parenthood and opposed the ACA birth control benefit that gave women access to contraception without a copay.

Price will hurt the LGBTQ community. As a legislator, Price has supported constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage and voted against a bill that prohibited employers from discriminating against LGBTQ employees. While the ACA prohibits LGBTQ discrimination, Price’s ACA alternative provides no such protections.

He belongs to a fringe group of physicians who still question whether HIV causes AIDS. As the head of HHS, Price will have control of the country’s national HIV/AIDS strategy, which includes funding for research, education and treatment to combat the disease. The decisions he makes could mean life or death for many of the 1.2 million people living with HIV in the United States.

Right-wing Republicans say that Price’s experience as chair of the House Budget Committee and expertise as a former orthopedic surgeon make him uniquely qualified for the job of HHS secretary. But Price’s record shows that he’s just another out-of-touch extremist who will gladly fleece low-income and elderly people of their health insurance under the guise of fiscal responsibility while lining his own pockets. Over the last four years, Price has traded more than $300,000 in shares of health-related companies while sponsoring and advocating for legislation that could potentially affect those companies’ stocks.11

Senate Democrats must stand their ground and resist confirming all members of Trump’s crony cabinet, and they need to start now by blocking Price’s HHS confirmation.

Tell Senate Democrats: Block Price and protect access to health care for millions of people. Click the Credo button below to sign their petition.  Even better, call Sen. Dean Heller’s office [ 202-224-6244 (DC) / 702-388-6605 (LV) / 775-686-5770 (Reno) / 775-738-2001 (Elko) ] and personally tell him you do NOT support Rep. Tom Price’s confirmation as HHS Secretary.

 

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