Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Tough Talk: This Price Is Not Right
The Washington Post: Trump’s Cabinet Loves Living Large
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price seems to have been the most egregious abuser. According to Politico, Price took at least 24 flights on private chartered aircraft since early May, at a total cost of more than $400,000. He also took military jets to Africa, Asia and Europe at an additional cost of more than $500,000, Politico reported. Until all the scrutiny, Price wasn’t picking up the tab. We the taxpayers were. On Thursday, Price said he would write a check to the Treasury Department for about $52,000 to cover the cost of his seat on those chartered domestic flights. (Eugene Robinson, 9/28)
The New York Times: Private Emails, Private Jets And Mr. Trump’s Idea Of Public Service
But wait, there’s more: Americans have been learning over the past week about Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price’s habit of flying private jets to official meetings, with occasional detours to luxury resorts where he owns property, or for outings with his family. Mr. Price and Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, have even used private jets on what a White House aide called “a national listening tour … to learn from the heroes on the front lines” of the opioid crisis — all while pushing for a replacement of the Affordable Care Act that would drain billions from Medicaid and addiction treatment. When asked if he would, wisely, fire Mr. Price, the president said on Wednesday, “I’m looking at that very closely.” Mr. Price said on Thursday that he’d reimburse a portion of the cost. Mr. Price — a multimillionaire orthopedic surgeon who as a congressman took actions that benefited his personal stock portfolio — isn’t the only Trump cabinet member polluting the public trough. (9/28)
Miami Herald: HHS Secretary Tom Price Needs To Get Off The Private Jets
During the past five months, as congressional Republicans were making five separate efforts to gut health care for low-income Americans, the man in charge of administering Obamacare was flying around the country, Europe and Asia on private jets at a cost to taxpayers of more than $400,000. By Thursday night, the figure had jumped to nearly $1 million. The “optics in some of this don’t look good,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price conceded to Fox News on Saturday. (9/29)
