Government healthcare reforms along with reducing prescription drug prices have been at the top of President Donald Trump's agenda. A quarrel in between the top health officials at HHS is prolonging the administration's healthcare initiatives.
Over the last year, tensions have been building between HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma. The drama between the two officials could be mistaken for an episode from the reality TV show, The Apprentice. The two health chiefs are in a power struggle over policy; moreover, both are claiming credit for the Trump administration's healthcare policy victories.
According to sources, the drama started when the previous HHS Secretary Tom Price resigned in the fall of 2017. Verma was a possible successor to Price but the president chose to nominate Azar for the job. From that point, the two officials became very competitive with each other to advance the president's healthcare agenda.
After Azar was confirmed, a meeting took place in the oval office where Azar went over his prescription drug-pricing proposal with President Trump and Administrator Verma. Verma emphatically opposed Secretary Azar's plan due to its possibility of raising federal spending and Medicare premiums in 2020. Subsequently, the White House ended up not backing Azar's drug pricing proposal.
At about the same time, Verma had spent months drafting an alternative to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Secretary Azar struck down that proposal before Administrator Verma could present it to the president. Azar strongly believed that the proposal would have reinforced the ACA rather than abolishing it.
Sources also claim that there have been efforts to marginalize and limit Verma's influence by excluding her from policy meetings. In October, Azar allegedly attempted to keep Verma from traveling with the president to Florida for the introduction of a Medicare executive order which was composed largely in part by CMS. Verma purportedly complained to the White House and was eventually permitted on the plane. In addition, Azar has also been accused of meddling in staffing decisions affecting HHS and CMS.
Officials at the White House claim that the discourse between Azar and Verma has hit such a low that they are now resorting to leaking stories about each other to the media. One of the stories involves a stolen property claim submitted by Verma in 2018. While she was giving a work-related speech in California her jewelry and luggage were stolen from a rental car. She asked for reimbursement from the federal government and the claim was met with objection from Democrats as a waste of taxpayer dollars. The other leak revealed that Verma had hired consultants to boost her reputation utilizing taxpayer dollars. According to a CMS representative, "these recent leaks are part of a targeted campaign to smear the Administrator and undermine the accomplishments of CMS."
On December 11th, the White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney called Azar and Verma to a meeting at the White House to settle the spat. President Trump was not present at the meeting and according to White House officials, the president still supports Administrator Verma but he also wants the two officials to put an end to the drama. One official said President Trump "doesn't care if they like each other, but they have a job to do." The source also stated that neither of their jobs are in jeopardy.
The tension between HHS Secretary Azar and CMS Administrator Verma has reached new heights and the Trump administration has had enough. Their failure to work together and get along with one another is not only postponing the president's healthcare policies but it has the potential to negatively impact the president's 2020 election campaign. Hopefully, the two chief health officials can set their quarrels aside and recognize that their decisions impact the healthcare of millions of Americans.
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