Casey doubts he’ll back pick for health secretary

Jan. 19--U.S. Sen. Bob Casey doubts he'll back U.S. Rep. Tom Price as the nation's new health and human services secretary.

"It is highly unlikely, highly -- let me add another highly there -- unlikely," Mr. Casey said Wednesday.

Mr. Casey, D-Pa., spoke by telephone just before Mr. Price faced a Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee confirmation hearing. A Democrat and committee member, Mr. Casey said their meeting Tuesday convinced him Republicans have no plan to replace the Affordable Care Act after they repeal it.

He did not announce a decision on supporting Mr. Price after the hearing.

Mr. Price advocates repealing the Affordable Care Act, known better as Obamacare, but also altering Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

During Wednesday's confirmation hearings, Mr. Price altered his stance slightly on these topics..

"The problem for him is his record and his statements conflict with the president-elect's promise to not touch ... Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security," Mr. Casey said.

President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly pledged during his election campaign that he will not cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.

Eliminating the Affordable Care Act would scale back Medicaid, which the act expanded. Mr. Price also advocates turning Medicaid into a block-grant program for states. That would cut Medicaid spending by a quarter to a third over the next 10 years, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning think tank.

Mr. Price would replace the Affordable Care Act with a plan that gives people tax credits to buy health insurance. Critics say it would leave millions without insurance. On Medicare, Mr. Price has supported turning the nation's health insurance for the elderly into a plan that has the federal government contributing to the cost of insurance premiums.

On Social Security, he suggested last year all options for solving its long-term financial troubles should be on the table, including privatization.

"If you're serious about it (replacing the Affordable Care Act), you have say that you're going to commit to covering more than 20 million people, ... that you're going to have all these protections for 150 million Americans only because of this generation," Mr. Casey said, referring to the requirement that no one can be denied insurance because of a pre-existing medical condition. "If you want to cover a lot of people, you've got to be able to pay for it."

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican, met with Mr. Price last week. On Twitter, Mr. Toomey called him "a true leader on HC (health care) reform that puts patients 1st."

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Senator to oppose several nominees

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey plans to oppose President-elect Donald Trump's nominees for U.S. attorney general, education secretary and environmental protection secretary, according to a statement from his office.

On Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican and Mr. Trump's nominee for attorney general, Mr. Casey said he was troubled by Mr. Sessions' support of a Supreme Court ruling that he said allowed states to limit voting rights and Mr. Sessions' "offensive" vote against a resolution that would have forbidden a ban on immigrants entering the country based on their religion.

On education nominee Betsy DeVos, Mr. Casey said she lacks experience in public education and her push for taxpayer-funded charter schools undermines public education and produced "abysmal results" for Detroit, Michigan, children.

On Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, the environmental protection nominee, Mr. Casey said Mr. Pruitt fought to dismantle the Clean Water and Clean Air acts and has denied climate change exists. During a confirmation hearing Wednesday, Mr. Pruitt acknowledged climate change is no hoax.

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey has already announced his support for Mr. Sessions and Ms. DeVos, but has not announced a position on Mr. Pruitt.

-- BORYS KRAWCZENIUK

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