Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Rachel Levine Confirmed As Assistant Secretary For Health In Historic Vote
The Washington Post: Senate Confirms Rachel Levine, Historic Transgender Nominee, As Assistant Health Secretary
The Senate on Wednesday voted 52 to 48 to confirm Rachel Levine as the nation’s assistant secretary for health, making her the highest-ranking openly transgender official in U.S. history. All Democrats and independents voted to support Levine, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) crossing the aisle to support her, prompting cheers from advocates who called the vote a breakthrough. (Diamond and Schmidt, 3/24)
NPR: Rachel Levine Makes History As 1st Openly Trans Federal Official Confirmed By Senate
Levine was previously Pennsylvania's secretary of health, where she led the commonwealth's COVID-19 response. ... Levine began her medical career as a pediatrician at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, and she is a professor at the Penn State College of Medicine, where she teaches on topics such as adolescent medicine, eating disorders and transgender medicine. She is a graduate of Harvard College and the Tulane University School of Medicine. (Wamsley, 3/24)
Nevada Appeal: Biden Cabinet Member Stumps For Pandemic Aid, Obamacare In Carson City
In his first trip since being confirmed, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited Nevada on Tuesday to talk up the Affordable Care Act and efforts underway to expand coverage and reduce the cost of health care. The secretary is one of several surrogates that President Joe Biden dispatched to drum up support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, which includes funding for people who lost health care coverage amid the pandemic. The package builds on the Affordable Care Act by expanding tax credits and subsidies to lower health care costs. "I hope Nevadans take full advantage of what it does to help middle class families on the edge" during the pandemic, he said. (Metz, 3/24)
Axios: Former Aides To New Biden Cabinet Members Cash In On Lobbying Gigs
A handful of former aides to Biden Cabinet members have picked up new lobbying businesses in recent weeks as their former bosses approached or secured Senate confirmation, records show. ... On Tuesday, within days of Xavier Becerra's confirmation as secretary of Health and Human Services, lobbying firm Ferox Strategies announced it had hired his former chief of staff. Debra Dixon, who led Becerra's House office, registered to represent three new clients for the firm, including pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. (Markay, 3/24)
In other updates from the Biden administration —
NBC News: Biden To Direct $100 Million To Medical Support Network Key To Vaccine Strategy
President Joe Biden plans to make the country's biggest investment ever in an all-volunteer army of doctors, nurses and medical support teams that has been a pillar of his strategy to accelerate the pace of Covid-19 vaccinations in the U.S., two administration officials said. Biden plans to direct $100 million from the recently enacted $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to bolster the Medical Reserve Corps. Created shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the corps is a network of about 200,000 health professionals who can rapidly deploy to respond to public health emergencies. (Przybyla, 3/25)
WMFE: Explaining The American Rescue Plan's $3.5B Incentive To Expand Medicaid In Florida
Democrats are using the 11th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act to renew calls to expand Medicaid in Florida. The ACA originally called on states to expand Medicaid to all adults up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line. But Florida is one of 14 states that didn’t expand Medicaid. (Aboraya, 3/24)
