Tom Price
Tom Price is Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
- Worked as an orthopedic surgeon in private practice (House website)
- November 2004, Congressman Tom Price was elected to represent Georgia’s 6th district
- In the 114th Congress, Price was named Chair of the House Committee on the Budget
- He serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means
- He has served as Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee and Chairman of the Republican Study Committee
Timeline
| 2009 | Tom Price joins AAPS, a far-right group that claims Medicare is immoral, Illegal Immigration causes Leprosy, Vaccines cause Autism, being gay shortens your lifespan by decades, abortion leads to breast cancer and that Obama cheated in the 2008 election by using hypnosis to gain votes. motherjones.com All claims that have been proven false. |
| 2016.03.23 | Tom Price introduces HIP Act to delay and suspend Medicare’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model (Congress) congress.gov |
| 2016.12.15 | The Boston globe lists 13 high ranking members of Trump's cabinet who are staunch opponents or who have fought against LGBT rights. bostonglobe.com (See also Homophobia, LGBTQIA, Presidential Transition, Mike Pence, Ken Blackwell, Nikki Haley, Michael Flynn, Ben Carson, Jeff Sessions, Betsy DeVos) The individuals are, Mike Pence, Tony Perkins, Ken Blackwell, Kay Coles, Ken Klukowski, Ed Meese, Betsy DeVos, Tom Price, Jeff Sessions, Ben Carson, Michael Flynn, Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo. |
| 2017.01.05 | Democrats call for ethics review into Price's financial investments and stock holdings cnn.com |
| 2017.01.06 | Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi calls for ethics probe thehill.com |
| 2017.01.10 | Rep. Louise Slaughter requests the SEC investigate stock trades made by Tom Price based upon information he gleaned on the health panel. wsj.com |
| 2017.01.16 | Franken posts questions he has for Tom Price. facebook.com |
| 2017.01.17 | A questionable stock transaction may be considered insider trading. cnn.com |
| 2017.01.17 | Three Democratic Senators request the Chairman delay Price's hearing. franken.senate.gov |
| 2017.01.30 | Biomedical company officials say Tom Price was offered their stock at a discount, contrary to his congressional testimony. wsj.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Health and Human Services, Conflicts of Interest) |
| 2017.02.01 | After a task force of experts said evidence didn’t support some cancer screenings, it became the target of lawmakers, including HHS nominee Tom Price and others with health industry ties. propublica.org (See also Department of Health and Human Services) |
| 2017.02.01 | Senate Republicans suspend rules to pass Tom Price and Steve Mnuchin through committee without Democrats present. slate.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Health and Human Services, Steven Mnuchin, Department of the Treasury) |
| 2017.02.01 | Senate committee approves Trump Treasury, Health nominees without Dems present after GOP changes panel's rules. twitter.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin) |
| 2017.02.02 | Senate Republicans' "unprecedented" move to advance cabinet nominees by changing committee rules could presage future strategies for thwarting Democratic pushback. theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days, Supreme Court, Steven Mnuchin) |
| 2017.02.10 | Tom Price, who has campaigned relentlessly to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and his nomination process has also been plagued by allegations of insider trading, is confirmed as US health secretary. theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days, Affordable Care Act, Department of Health and Human Services) |
| 2017.03.13 | Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and White House Budget Director Mike Mulvaney react to the Congressional Budget Office's estimate on the Republican health care bill, saying the CBO "has it wrong." c-span.org (See also Affordable Care Act, Department of Health and Human Services, Mick Mulvaney) |
| 2017.03.15 | Tom Price lies to a cancer survivor about Obamacare repeal plan. crooksandliars.com (See also Health Care) |
| 2017.05.10 | Reporter Dan Heyman arrested in West Virginia for asking Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price a question about GOP health care bill. nytimes.com (See also Free Press, Censorship) |
| 2017.07.25 | Standing before 40,000 Boy Scouts, Trump bragged about the “record” crowd size, bashed President Barack Obama, criticized the “fake media," trashed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and threatened to fire his health and human services secretary if he couldn’t persuade members of Congress to vote for the Republican health-care bill. washingtonpost.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior, Department of Health and Human Services) |
| 2017.09.19 | In a sharp departure from his predecessors, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price last week took private jets on five separate flights for official business, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars more than commercial travel. politico.com (See also Department of Health and Human Services, Unprecedented Actions) |
| 2017.09.27 | Much like Tom Price, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has taken at least four noncommercial and military flights since mid-February, costing taxpayers more than $58,000 to fly him to various parts of the country. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency) |
| 2017.09.28 | HHS Secretary Tom Price said that he would reimburse the government for only a fraction of the costs of his flights on charter planes. washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Health and Human Services, Corruption) An HHS official said that Price would write a check for $51,887.31, which appears to cover the cost of his seat on chartered flights but not those of his staff. The total estimated cost of these trips exceeded $400,000. |
| 2017.09.29 | Tom Price resigned as Donald Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary, after days of public outcry over his use of private jets to conduct government business, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. nbcnews.com (See also Department of Health and Human Services, Corruption) Price's 261 days in office make him the shortest-ever serving Health and Human Services Secretary. |
| 2018.02.16 | After less than 13 months, more than 40 percent of the people Trump originally picked for Cabinet-level jobs have faced ethical or other controversies. washingtonpost.com (See also Administration Errors, Trump Cabinet, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest, Ryan Zinke, Steven Mnuchin, John Kelly, Jeff Sessions, Ben Carson) |
| Trump HHS pick backed Zimmer Biomet—then pushed a bill to benefit the company fiercebiotech.com Georgia Rep. Tom Price, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run Health and Human Services, bought shares in Zimmer Biomet shortly before introducing a bill that would have spared the devicemaker fr… |
Assessments
On Dec. 23,2016, NPR's Robert Siegel interviewed Michelle Hackman of the Wall Street Journal on the possible conflict of interest (NPR)
Tom Price, you know, by background is an orthopedic surgeon. So it's probably fair to start off by saying this man is deeply interested in health care. This is his background and so it makes sense that he'd also, you know, know more about health-related stocks than other companies. As of the most recent filings, he has ownership in about 40 different companies that add up to - and this is probably a conservative estimate - but about $300,000 at least.
From March to April 2016, Tom Price engaged in a series of ethical stock trading and insider dealing with Zimmer Biomet (Fierce Biotech)
Price purchased between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of Zimmer Biomet shares last March, CNN reported Sunday. Days later, he introduced the HIP Act, which sought to delay and suspend Medicare’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model. The new regs seek to change the way Medicare reimburses providers and manufacturers for hip and knee implants.
After Price floated the bill, Zimmer Biomet’s political action committee donated to his reelection campaign, CNN reported. The company, which makes hip and knee implants, would have been among the hardest hit if the new regs are fully implemented.
"It clearly has the appearance of using your influence as a congressman to your financial benefit," said Larry Noble, general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, as quoted by CNN. "If he believed in the bill, he should not have purchased the stock."
Further research
- March-April 2016 Stock trades and regulations for Zimmer Biomet