The Senate has confirmed Rep. Tom Price (R-Georgia) to head the Department of Health and Human Services through a 52-47 vote, Reuters reported Friday.
Susan Cornwell writes Price will have the ability to modify regulations under the 2010 Affordable Care Act in his role as HHS secretary.
He authored the legislation to repeal ACA and replace it with tax credits for health insurance purchases, Cornwell reported.
Price is an orthopedic surgeon and the first doctor to lead HHS since Louis Sullivan, who held the role in the George W. Bush administration, Robert Pear and Thomas Kaplan reported for The New York Times.
He has also supported proposals to provide a fixed government contribution for each Medicare beneficiary as chairman of the House Budget Committee.
The HHS secretary is in charge of a more than $1 trillion annual budget as well as agencies that regulate food and drugs, support biomedical research and mitigate public health threats.
