President-Elect Donald Trump named Georgia Republican Tom Price to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which means a slower shift to value-based care, says Forbes columnist Bruce Japsen.
Price “has railed against the Obama administration’s rapid move away from fee-for-service medicine to value-based care, particularly Medicare’s mandatory bundled payment initiatives,” Jepsen writes. “Under Obama, Medicare has joined private health insurers including Aetna, Anthem, UnitedHealth Group and the nation’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans to move away from fee-for-service medicine, a system that pays doctors and hospitals based on volume of care delivered.”
Mandatory bundled payments limit how much is spent on a medical procedure, essentially dictating how doctors are supposed to provide patient care.
“With a bundled payment from Medicare, hospitals where the surgery takes place are accountable for the quality as well as the costs of care from the start of the surgery through 90 days after discharge,” Jepsen writes. “As HHS Secretary, Price would oversee the Trump administration’s implementation of value-based care initiatives and how Medicare payment initiatives are implemented.”
Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer came out against Price, saying he wants to take away entitlements, Obamacare and remove taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood.
"Nominating Congressman Price to be the HHS secretary is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house," Schumer said, according to the Washington Examiner.
Schumer, a New York Democrat, who will lead the party in the upcoming Congress, said Price's views are too extreme.
"Congressman Price has proven to be far out of the mainstream of what Americans want when it comes to Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and Planned Parenthood," Schumer said.
"Thanks to those programs, millions of American seniors, families, people with disabilities and women have access to quality, affordable health care."
© 2026 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.