Tom Price: Congress still needs to act on health care reform

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said Wednesday that Congress still needs to act on health care.

“The fact that Congress didn’t act earlier this month doesn’t mean that the problem goes away. So what we’re looking for is patient-centered health care where patients and families and doctors are making decisions not Washington, D.C.,” Mr. Price said on Fox News.

Senate Republicans failed to come to an agreement on a health care reform bill before they left for their August recess, and many said they don’t believe there will be another effort for a replacement bill this year.

House Republicans said they did their part in passing a repeal-and-replace bill, and have already moved on to tax reform.

But Mr. Price said doing nothing is not an option.

“We got about 40 percent of counties in the nation next year that will … only have one issuer providing coverage on the exchange. That means they’ve got no choice at all,” he said.

“People understand that this isn’t working and consequentially Congress needs to act to move in a direction of patient-centered health care,” Mr. Price said.

When asked how he felt about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s claim that President Trump has “excessive expectations” regarding health care, Mr. Price said that was untrue.

“The president only has expectations that he was told by individuals that were in office at the time he was running for office,” Mr. Price said.