Price vows not to pull ‘rug out’ with Obamacare repeal He tries to ease partisan tensions over Republicans’ pledge to unwind the Democrats’ health care law covering 20 million Americans.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run Health and Human Services, Rep. Tom Price, faced tough questioning from Democrats on the GOP’s undefined plan to replace Obamacare during his first confirmation hearing Wednesday morning.

Price tried to ease partisan tensions over Republicans’ pledge to unwind the Democrats’ health care law covering 20 million Americans. Price, who fought back repeatedly against Democrats' questions about his health care investments, played up his experience as a doctor and a lawmaker, portraying himself as an advocate for affordable health care.


“We all want a health care system that’s affordable, that’s accessible to all, of the highest quality, with the greatest number of choices, driven by world-leading innovations, and responsive to the needs of the individual patient,” said Price, an orthopedic surgeon and chairman of the House Budget Committee.

Democrats on the Senate HELP Committee scolded Price, who would help lead Obamacare replacement efforts, for rushing ahead to repeal the health care law, while they also tried to strike a divide between Trump’s recent promise “to insure everybody” and GOP policies that would fall short of that goal.

“My constituents are coming up to me with tears in their eyes, wondering what the future holds for their health care given the chaos Republican efforts could cause,” said Sen. Patty Murray, the panel’s top Democrat.

Republicans described Obamacare as a system in free fall needing rescuing, amid declining choices and greater premium increases this year. As Trump pushes for an immediate replacement plan to dismantle Obamacare, committee chairman Lamar Alexander called for a step-by-step, concrete plan to replace the law before killing it off.

"The American people deserve health care reform that's done the right way, for the right reasons, in the right amount of time,” Alexander said. “It's not about developing a quick fix, it's about working toward long-term solutions that work for everyone."

Here are highlights from the hearing.

Price tries to reassure on Obamacare replacement: Price emphasized that Republicans' plan to dismantle Obamacare would not rip coverage away from anyone, saying it is "imperative" that people be able to keep their insurance. But Price stopped short of endorsing Trump's call for "insurance for everybody," advocating instead for a system that offers just the opportunity — not the guarantee — of coverage.

"Nobody's interested in pulling the rug out from anybody," he said. "I think there's been a lot of talk about individuals losing health coverage That is not our goal or our desire, nor is it our plan." Price defended his 2015 Obamacare replacement bill as a proposal that would ensure access to insurance at lower cost.

But Murray questioned whether his health care vision would maintain Obamacare’s coverage gains, pointing to provisions that would eliminate guaranteed coverage for people with preexisting conditions, reinstate lifetime benefit limits and prevent young adults under 26 from staying on their parents' plans.

"I'm very concerned that your vision for a health care system is very different than the one that I think millions of Americans are counting on," Murray said.

Price doesn’t bite on drug prices: Under questioning from Bernie Sanders, Price demurred on Trump’s promise to fight high drug prices by forcing pharmaceutical companies to the negotiating table. Aside from Trump, Republicans have typically opposed Medicare drug negotiations, a longtime Democratic priority that Trump has consistently talked up.

Price said he would work in “a bipartisan way” to address the “root causes” of high drug prices, which polls show Americans rank among their top health care concerns. “You have my commitment to work with you and others to make sure that drug pricing is reasonable,” Price said.

“Wasn’t quite the answer to the question that I asked,” Sanders grumbled.

Price on defensive over investments: Price came into the hearing facing ethical questions from Democrats about his investments in health care companies that could have benefited from legislation he wrote. Price denied that he used non-public information to make a profit in the stock market and said a broker was in charge of investments that are now in the public spotlight.

But Democrats challenged those assertions, asking whether he used information from another lawmaker, Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), to invest in an Australian biotech firm in a private sale.

Collins “talked about the company and the work they were doing … on progressive secondary multiple sclerosis,” Price said of his investment in the company, Innate Immunotherapeutics. “I studied the company for a period of time and felt like it had significant merit and promise.”

Price said that in this instance he directed his broker to purchase Innate stock, and that he paid the same price as everyone else involved in the deal. That drew a rebuke from Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who noted that only Price, Collins and a handful of D.C. lobbyists even had access to the private sale.

"It really begs credulity, sir, when you say you did not know that you got a discount on this," he said. "I think that our job in this body and in Congress and in government is to avoid the appearance of conflict and, boy, you have not done this.”

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee full committee hearing on the nomination of Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., to be Health and Human Services secretary in the Trump administration Jan. 18, 2017 in Washington. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO

Price early in the discussion about his investments said most of his trades are directed by his broker, so he doesn't always know what he owns. He later acknowledged he signs off on his stock trades on a monthly and annual basis.

Some Republicans defended Price’s investments, which Trump’s transition team has maintained consistently followed legal and ethical requirements. Notably, no GOP senator showed any hesitation about moving ahead with Price’s confirmation despite calls from Democrats for the S ecurities and E xchange C ommission and House ethics officials to investigate Price.

No immediate plans for Medicare overhaul: While Trump and Price differ on Medicare — Trump has promised not to touch it, and Price supports the GOP’s plans for partially privatizing it — Price said there are no immediate plans to change the health care program for seniors. Shortly after the election and before he was nominated, Price said he wanted Congress to pursue Medicare changes later this year.

Price made no mention of those plans during the hearing, and he said he hasn’t discussed Medicare with Trump yet. He also said the Obamacare replacement bill wouldn’t deal with Medicare.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren tried to pin down Price on Medicare and Medicaid, asking him to promise that HHS wouldn’t implement any policy that would cut “a dollar” from either program. Price said that money isn’t the appropriate metric for judging whether reforms are necessary, but policymakers should instead look at the quality of care.

“What the question presumes is money is the metric,” Price said. “I believe that the metric ought to be the care that the patients are receiving.”

Women’s health: Democrats wasted little time before going after Price's record on reproductive rights, portraying him as ignorant of women's health issues. Murray in her opening statement pointed to Price's support for defunding Planned Parenthood and rolling back insurance coverage of reproductive health care benefits, saying she is "deeply troubled" by the consequences his policies could have.

"I have serious concerns about your understanding of women's need for basic health care like birth control, given your expressed doubts on this topic, your proposals to make women pay extra out of pocket for birth control and your repeated efforts to defund our nation's largest provider of women's health care, Planned Parenthood."

Jason Millman and Jennifer Haberkorn contributed to this report.