Federal:
Rep. Tom Price will be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under president-elect Donald Trump. Like Trump, Price has been critical of the Affordable Care Act. Price also favors changes to Medicaid and Medicare. While he made no direct comments regarding policy following his secretarial appointment, Price supports Medicaid being converted into block grants allocated to states, a model favored by many House Republicans. Like fellow Republicans, Price is interested in converting Medicare into a “defined contribution” plan, rather than the current “defined benefit” model.
Trump appointed Seema Verma to oversee the HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Verma is a health-care consultant and worked on restructuring Medicaid in Indiana under Governor Mike Pence.
Read more in the Washington Post.
State:
As we all know, the budget continues to be the biggest legislative issue facing Illinois. For an interesting look at the real people being affected by the crisis, Kartemquin Films has teamed up with In These Times to create a documentary web series called “Stranded by the State” and available on YouTube. The first 3 episodes are available now at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmMZWKDRc2UGjzpA-6qBwCw.