Price hearing: dramatic ACA metaphors and the meaning of “access”

Enlarge / U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Nominee Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) testifies during his confirmation hearing. (credit: Getty | Alex Wong)

In a four-hour Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, tried unsuccessfully to ratchet down the rhetoric surrounding the fate of the Affordable Care Act. He repeatedly emphasized that “nobody is interested in pulling the rug out from under anybody.” And in broad strokes he described the Republicans' replacement plan—which has yet to be revealed—as a beefed-up version of the ACA; a plan that covers even more people, has better benefits, and is cheaper.

He went on, explaining:

We believe that it’s absolutely imperative that individuals that have health coverage be able to keep health coverage, and move—hopefully—to greater choices and opportunities for them to gain the kind of coverage they want for themselves and for their families… There’s been a lot of talk about individuals losing health coverage. That is not our goal, nor is it our desire, nor is it our plan.

The assurances stopped there, however, as did hope of calming the fevered debate on the subject. Senators on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which held the hearing, continued to pepper the discussion with dramatic statements. Republicans compared the ACA to a collapsing bridge and described it as being in a death spiral. Democrats compared repealing the mammoth health law without replacement legislation to jumping out of a plane without a parachute.