Congressman Tom Price of Georgia, chairman of the House budget committee, told reporters on Thursday that GOP leaders will begin efforts to overhaul the Medicare program during the first half of 2017.
Price, orthopedic surgeon and vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act from Roswell, Georgia, is being floated as a possible health and human services secretary in the Trump administration.
Although President-elect Donald Trump said during the campaign that he doesn’t support cuts to Social Security or Medicare, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has repeatedly moved to privatize both programs.
Price, who visited Trump in New York City on Wednesday, canceled an afternoon interview Friday with Georgia Public Radio in which he was expected to discuss GOP plans for Medicare and the Affordable Care Act.
Price’s “Empowering Patients First Act“ calls for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and would provide tax credits, based on age rather than income, to help purchase private health insurance.
Price was first elected to serve Georgia’s 6th Congressional District in November 2004. He previously served in the Georgia State Senate where he was the first GOP Senate Majority Leader in state history as the Republican party took control of the state legislature.
In addition to working in private practice as an orthopedic surgeon for nearly 20 years, Price was an assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine and Medical Director of the Orthopedic Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where he trained resident physicians.
Tony Pugh: 202-383-6013, @TonyPughDC