Support for Xavier Becerra’s nomination as Health and Human Services Secretary continues to roll in from the medical community. In addition to groups previously highlighted by POC, additional health care organizations have thrown their support behind Becerra, President Biden’s pick to lead HHS, ahead of his nomination hearings in the Senate HELP and Finance Committees this week. Becerra’s decades of health care experience and commitment to fighting for affordable health care for all have earned him the support of the medical community and make him an ideal pick to lead Americans through this pandemic.
Alliance for Retired Americans: “Mr. Becerra has also been an active and effective advocate for lowering drug prices. Seniors proportionately spend more than other age groups on prescription drugs. His work has positively affected the economic and health security of our members. He and a bipartisan group of state Attorneys General have sued to hold drug corporations responsible for their role in the opioid epidemic. Mr. Becerra was also instrumental in the passage of legislation in California to stop pay-for-delay kickbacks that keep many drug prices artificially high and a leader in the battle to uphold the Affordable Care Act and protect the health care coverage of millions of patients.” (Full statement)
American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry: “Mr. Becerra has a strong track record and a depth of experience in formulating and implementing policies and programs to address the crisis of opioid addiction… As Attorney General, Mr. Becerra has also promoted regulations to protect patient data while also ensuring the data can be used appropriately to protect against the diversion and abuse of prescription drugs.” (Full statement)
American Academy of Family Physicians: “Mr. Becerra has long been a champion of ensuring all Americans have access to high-quality, affordable health care. As a member of Congress, Representative Becerra helped to pass the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and eliminate the flawed Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate. As Attorney General of California, he defended the ACA against legal challenges in the case of Texas v. United States.” (Full statement)
America’s Essential Hospitals: “Becerra has spent his career defending key programs of importance to essential hospitals and their communities, including Medicare and Medicaid. Most recently, in his role as attorney general of California, Becerra defended the 340B Drug Pricing Program and championed important protections for immigrant communities.” (Full statement)
American Kidney Fund: “HHS is one of the largest and most important federal agencies – especially now, during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic – and Mr. Becerra’s experience as both a legislator and an executive give him the needed expertise to lead during this crucial time. People with kidney disease need a strong leader at HHS now more than ever.” (Full statement)
American Nurses Association: “As California Attorney General, Mr. Becerra has defended the Affordable Care Act and essential health benefits. He fought against hospital consolidation and short-term junk insurance plans which make health care more expensive for consumers. His experience running the Department of Justice in America’s largest state instills confidence that he is very capable of running one of the largest government agencies in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.” (Full statement)
Association of American Medical Colleges: “Secretary-designate Becerra’s leadership experience – such as the efforts to protect patients’ access to health care and establish health equity initiatives that he led during his tenure as Attorney General of the State of California – will be an asset in this role. He also brings health policy expertise from his experience on the House Committee on Ways and Means where he championed affordable, comprehensive health care coverage for patients.” (Full statement)
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: “As the Attorney General of California, Mr. Becerra has demonstrated leadership in protecting kids from tobacco. Recognizing that youth are particularly vulnerable to nicotine use and addiction, he worked to protect kids from e-cigarette marketing and tobacco imagery in streamed video content. He also supported California’s new law ending the sale of flavored tobacco products, which are a key driver of youth tobacco use.” (Full statement)
Campaign for Sustainable Prescription Drug Pricing: “While in Congress, then-Representative Becerra worked diligently to enact to make health care more affordable and later, as Attorney General of California, continued that work. As part of his determined efforts on behalf of consumers, Attorney General Becerra has taken important actions to thwart egregious anti-competitive activity by the pharmaceutical industry aimed at protecting monopolies and keeping prescription drug prices needlessly high and unaffordable for far too many U.S. patients and their families. (Full statement)
Cancer Support Community: “Throughout his career, Mr. Becerra has always put patients first, including those impacted by cancer. Mr. Becerra was a proud co-sponsor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and actively worked to pass this landmark legislation. As a member of Congress, he steadfastly fought to protect and preserve the ACA by voting at least nine times against efforts to repeal and replace the law. He also sponsored the E-Centives Act, which provided incentives for Medicaid providers to improve quality of care by implementing electronic health records.” (Full statement)
Casa De Esperanza: “Mr. Becerra is a deeply qualified and passionate leader with a depth and breadth of experience that spans three decades of working to address violence against women and support survivors, ensure access to healthcare, and protect Social Security and Medicare. In May of 2020, as California Attorney General, Xavier Becerra called for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, stating that “[t]here’s no place for violence against women anywhere.” (Full statement)
Center for Medicare Advocacy: “Mr. Becerra has been a champion of expanding access to health care, from his time in Congress to his most recent role as California’s Attorney General. During his twelve terms in Congress, including while serving on the House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee, Mr. Becerra worked to improve the Medicare program as well as health care access more broadly.” (Full statement)
Futures Without Violence: “Xavier Becerra is a highly qualified and passionate leader with demonstrated depth and breadth of experience spanning three decades. As Attorney General of California, he joined with Attorneys General from across the country in 2018 and 2020 to advocate for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. His defense of the Affordable Care Act has meant essential health care access and coverage for many previously uninsured people, including those experiencing sexual and domestic violence.” (Full statement)
Leading Age: “We support the nomination of Secretary-Nominee Becerra to be the next HHS Secretary to advocate for and carry out the robust health care platform outlined by President Joe Biden. We have confidence that he has the health care expertise and experience managing large systems that are critical to successfully leading HHS and that he will work with Congress to take quick action…” (Full statement)
Mental Health America: “As a member of Congress, he sponsored and supported legislation that has proven essential on the journey to health equity for all our people, including those affected by mental illnesses. As the Attorney General of California, his efforts in support of enforcing mental health parity, for example, are well-known and critically important.” (Full statement)
National Alliance on Mental Illness: “Attorney General Becerra has been a true leader on mental health and addiction issues, tirelessly defending the ACA and working to enforce federal & state mental health parity laws. As California’s Attorney General he led efforts on the part of states to challenge measures taken by the previous Administration to undermine a series of patient protections in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Under his leadership, California also stepped up enforcement and compliance with respect to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) ensuring more equitable coverage of mental illness treatment.” (Full statement)
National Alliance to End Sexual Violence: “Xavier Becerra is a demonstrated leader who brings decades of health policy experience addressing violence against women and support services, ensuring access to healthcare, and protecting Social Security and Medicare. His long history of defending and protecting the Affordable Care Act has provided essential health care access and coverage for many previously uninsured people, including those experiencing sexual violence and trauma.” (Full statement)
National Association of Community Health Centers: “Attorney General Becerra has a long-established relationship with California health centers and NACHC. As a former Member of Congress from Los Angeles, and a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, he consistently sought feedback from local health center leadership through roundtable events and regular communications with the Los Angeles Community Clinic Consortium.” (Full statement)
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: “Becerra has a proven record of fighting for access to healthcare for all Americans. This includes leading the legal campaign to prevent the Affordable Care Act from being dismantled, thereby protecting millions of survivors’ access to healthcare.” (Full statement)
National Council on Aging: “While playing a leadership role in providing health coverage to millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans under the Affordable Care Act and championing improvements to women’s health, he also authored Medicare proposals focused on improving care for beneficiaries in need… NCOA had the privilege of working closely with then-Rep. Becerra and his staff on legislation he introduced in 2007 and 2009 to make health care more affordable for low-income Medicare beneficiaries whose fixed incomes made it difficult to afford rising health care costs.” (Full statement)
National Organization of Rare Disorders: “Attorney General Becerra has spent a career in both Washington and California advancing policies that have improved access to affordable and comprehensive health care…We are confident that his experience will enable to him to effectively lead HHS and support the implementation of policies that can help address pressing health needs of the rare disease community.” (Full statement)