The Senate held two confirmation hearings for Xavier Becerra, Attorney General of California and Biden’s pick to lead Health and Human Services (HHS)—in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Tuesday, and the Senate Finance Committee yesterday. Here’s what we learned.
Becerra’s top priority is addressing COVID-19—though he’ll also focus on insurance expansion, reduction in health costs, and reducing racial and ethnic disparities.
The hearings were partisan. Generally speaking, Democrats expressed confidence in Becerra, particularly his defense of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Congress and as CA Attorney General. Republicans voiced concerns, notably around his past support for “march-in rights."
On drug pricing:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) asked what he’ll do “to substantially lower the cost of prescription drugs.”
“There is unanimity, bipartisan support for tackling the high cost of prescription medication—and I can assure you that will be one of my priorities,” said Becerra. When pressed for details: “The price that we’re paying for some of these prescription drugs is far higher than it should be. All you have to do is travel to another country…to find that we’re paying way more than the people in some of these countries are paying.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) asked about the potential for the administration to support a bipartisan drug pricing reform package similar to the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019 (a.k.a. Grassley-Wyden), which Grassley thinks could pass now—or whether the administration wants something “stronger.”
“There’s no doubt that President Biden wants to see us lower the price of prescription medicine and his team…will be working with you in a bipartisan fashion to reach a solution,” said Becerra. (Watch the exchange around 55 minutes.)
Other notable exchanges included Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on the 340B program, and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) on PBMs and rebate reform.
On “march-in” rights:
Senate HELP Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC) criticized Becerra’s prior support for march-in rights (around 5 minutes), which shows a “disregard for the value of private-sector ingenuity.” Burr noted Becerra’s actions to undermine “incentives to innovate—the lynchpin in our ability to bring hope to American patients.” An HHS nominee “who has demanded manufacturers hand over protections for their innovations and discouraged the development of treatments for life-threatening diseases should be a cause for serious concern.” Burr added the Bayh-Dole Act does not intend for the government to set prices. (Burr said he’s still open to confirming him, but not yet sold.)
In the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) likewise pushed back against Becerra’s invocation of march-in rights, saying it shows a lack of understanding of incentives and science, saying it would create “a chilling effect and seriously [discourage] future investment.”
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