After talking to folks tonight about Biden’s HHS/CMS leadership picks, it’s interesting how his selection of Becerra/Brooks-LaSure is shaping up to be the inverse of the Azar/Verma dynamic, in more ways than one.
A thread for health policy wonks…
washingtonpost.com/health/2021/02…
A thread for health policy wonks…
washingtonpost.com/health/2021/02…
First, the résumés are kinda inverted.
Azar — who had been HHS deputy and its top lawyer, plus a pharma president — had prepared for years to run HHS.
Becerra has many defenders, but what he doesn’t have is HHS experience (and relatively little executive experience overall).
Azar — who had been HHS deputy and its top lawyer, plus a pharma president — had prepared for years to run HHS.
Becerra has many defenders, but what he doesn’t have is HHS experience (and relatively little executive experience overall).
It’s the opposite case with Biden/Trump’s CMS picks.
Brooks-LaSure was a well-regarded Obama HHS/CMS veteran who co-led Biden’s HHS transition team.
Verma, meanwhile, was a DC outsider who spent much of her early time at CMS learning programs beyond Medicaid (her specialty).
Brooks-LaSure was a well-regarded Obama HHS/CMS veteran who co-led Biden’s HHS transition team.
Verma, meanwhile, was a DC outsider who spent much of her early time at CMS learning programs beyond Medicaid (her specialty).
Also key: the interpersonal dynamics, a point that @adamcancryn hit today. politico.com/news/2021/02/1…
Becerra and CBL go back years, with her supporting him on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, Trump smushed Tom Price together with Verma, making for a chilly dynamic that worsened w/Azar.
Becerra and CBL go back years, with her supporting him on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, Trump smushed Tom Price together with Verma, making for a chilly dynamic that worsened w/Azar.
To put it another way: Trump’s last HHS secretary was a bureaucratic expert who had little warmth (or need) for a CMS chief who emerged as his rival.
Biden’s HHS secretary, meanwhile, will need to rely on the CMS chief — a former staffer — to understand the sweeping department.
Biden’s HHS secretary, meanwhile, will need to rely on the CMS chief — a former staffer — to understand the sweeping department.
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