The president of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice had high praise for President Biden’s choice for Health and Human Services secretary, Xavier Becerra, after the nominee offered some encouraging words about home care this week.
“Secretary-designee Becerra made it clear in his hearings that, if confirmed, he will be certain to support improvements in access to home- and community-based services,” Dombi told McKnight’s Home Care Daily. “This is especially crucial as the growing population of individuals of advanced age find a need for care that extends beyond the capabilities of the current healthcare system. We look forward to working with the Department of Health & Human Services to secure patient-centered health care in the care setting of choice, one’s own home.”
Meanwhile, during this week’s hearings, Mitt Romney (R-UT) sparred with Becerra, who is the current California attorney general and a former member of Congress, on his views regarding the possible expansion of Medicare as well as “partial-birth” abortions.
If Medicare “is already running a huge red ink program, expanding it is not going to make things easier,” Romney said.
He later tweeted, “Our federal trust funds — programs like Medicare — are facing impending insolvency. This alone makes #MedicareForAll a non-starter. We can’t expand something already on track to go bankrupt. Our bipartisan #TRUSTact works to shore up programs like Medicare before they collapse.”
