Home Health & Hospice Week

CMS Administrator not yet nominated.

The changeover of presidential administrations is starting to hit close to home for health care providers.

President-Elect Joe Biden will nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to serve as the Health and Human Services Secretary. The announcement comes after rumors that former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo were all under consideration for the post.

The American Hospital Association applauds Becerra’s nomination, it says in a statement. “He has led the effort to protect the Affordable Care Act and its important protections and coverage for patients,” the trade group says.

“We are proud to have someone from California, the home state of many of our members, serving in this important position in the new Administration,” said National Hospice & Palliative Care CEO Edo Banach. “We look forward to a productive working relationship with HHS as we continue our mission to advance person- and family-centered care,” Banach tells AAPC.

Biden says he also plans to nominate Dr. Rochelle Walensky as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walensky is chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Harvard Medical School professor.

See more of Biden’s health-related nominations, including for new COVID-19-related positions, at https://buildbackbetter.gov/nominees-and-appointees/health. No CMS Administrator had been proposed as of press time.

Becerra’s position is far from a done deal. Experts predict that he will face opposition from Republicans in his confir­mation hearing.