Sen. Hassan Comments on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Administrator Nominee

WASHINGTON, March 2 -- Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., issued the following statement on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Nominee Seema Verma:

"While I appreciated the opportunity to sit down with Ms. Verma, I remain very concerned that she would pursue a partisan agenda as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that would hurt the health and economic well-being of New Hampshire.

"During our meeting, I expressed my strong disagreement with Ms. Verma's comments in her hearing indicating that she believes insurance companies shouldn't be required to cover critical services like maternity care for women.

"I also pressed Ms. Verma on the importance of requiring insurance companies to cover substance use disorder services, noting that many insurance companies didn't provide this coverage until they were required to by the Affordable Care Act.

"Finally, I expressed the urgent need to address the high cost of prescription drugs and pushed Ms. Verma to support allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices.

"Over the coming days, I will continue to review Ms. Verma's record and qualifications for this position."

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